[4][5][6] The planning committee in charge, together with the new incoming government, agreed that they would not use pompous and so-called unnecessary elements, such as rugs and pennants for the 6 columns of the National Capitol, instead they used tropical flowers such as begonias and the popular orchids, in the case of the flags of the 32 departments of Colombia, mandatory elements as dictated by tradition and protocol, were replaced by traditional Colombian flower saddles that had a respective flag made of flowers in the center of this, in total 32 silletas each with the flags of the 32 departments and the capital district were located all the way from the San Carlos Palace that led to the plaza de Bolívar[7][8] The inauguration ceremony began at 2:30 pm, when Petro, his wife, Verónica, and their children, as is customary, left the San Carlos Palace for the Plaza de Bolívar of the National Capitol escorted by ten pipers from the Colombian Navy.

[16] Once his speech of almost half an hour was over, Petro and his family went to the House of Nariño where, as tradition dictates, the outgoing President Ivan Duque and his wife María Juliana Ruiz were waiting at the door, and immediately afterwards Petro greeted the members of the military who were waiting for him at the gates at the entrance to the house of nariño, moving through the main square to the steps of the house of nariño where he prepared to greet the outgoing presidential couple,[17] as the next act petro in the company of his family settled at the top of the stairs, while ivan duque and his wife went down the stairs to take the traditional last walk in the company of his cabinet through the main square during these moments the band of the presidential guard I sing the salute to the traditional anthem flag to salute the Colombian head of state.

[18] The president of the Senate, Roy Barreras, the natural head of congress, administered the oath of office to Petro at 3:30 p.m. m., with 20 minutes remaining in Duque's term.

[20][21] Márquez recited the following, as prescribed by the Constitution: Gustavo Petro: Invoking the protection of God, you swear before this corporation that represents the people of Colombia, to faithfully and legally comply with the duties that the position of Vice President of the Republic imposes on you in accordance with the constitution and the laws.I swear to God and to the people to faithfully comply with the constitution and laws of Colombia, I also swear before my ancestors and ancestors, until dignity becomes a custom.The planning of the presidential inauguration was in the hands of Eva Ferrer, to whom the president-elect Petro had expressed the intention of the presence of the sword of Bolívar in his inaugural act as well as that the act be as public as possible with the presence of people in the squares, which generated great and arduous work, since the idea of paying an insurance of 300 million pesos that was worth the insurance policy required for the presence of the mythical bolivar sword.

[27] The coverage began early at 9:00 in the morning, the main television and radio networks in the country settled in a press room and exclusive boxes for the official broadcast.