A Republic Day special—from unknown facts about the celebration to the major amendments made to the Indian Constitution.

Little-known facts

On Tuesday, India will celebrate its 67th Republic Day—a commemoration of the day when the Indian constitution came into force in 1950. As thousands gather to witness the country’s military and cultural parade, and celebrate the constitutional sovereignty, we take a look at facts that you might not know about India’s national holiday.

Birth of the constitution

While some reports say that the constitution came into legal circulation at precisely 10:18 a.m., other reports say that it was shortly after 10:30 a.m. 

Indian Air Force comes into existence

On this day in 1950, the prefix ‘royal’ was dropped from the Royal Indian Air Force—the auxiliary air force of the British Empire established in 1932—and the Indian Air Force came into existence.

Abide with me

Republic Day celebrations begin on January 26 with the parade along the Rajpath and end with the Beating Retreat ceremony on January 29. Every year, during the Beating Retreat, a band plays Abide With Me—a Christian hymn written by Henry Francis Lyte, which is believed to be Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite.

Longest constitution

With 448 articles, India’s constitution is the longest in the world. The original constitution is handwritten in English and Hindu using calligraphy and is now stored inside helium-filled cases in the library of the Parliament of India. Dr BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the constitution, took on the herculean task of drafting the country’s constitution, which took two years and 11 months to complete.

A change in venue

Rajpath was not always the venue for the annual Republic Day parade. The first parade was held at Irwin stadium where Dr Rajendra Prasad took an oath as India’s first president. The chief guest was President Sukarno of Indonesia. It was only from 1955 when Rajpath became the official venue for the parade. Previous venues included Ramlila Ground and Lal Kila.

A bag of borrowings

The Indian constitution is often referred to as a bag of borrowings, as it has taken various features from other constitutions around the world such as the concept of having five-year plans was taken from the USSR and the concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity was taken from the French constitution.

First sitting US president at the parade

US President Barack Obama became the first US head of state to attend India’s Republic Day parade when he came to Delhi last year along with his wife Michelle Obama. It was the president’s most high-profile event during his three-day visit to India in 2015, and he received a personal invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

First-ever female contingent

For the first time, an all-women contingent from the three forces—Army, Air Force and Navy—marched down Rajpath on India’s Republic Day in 2015. The Army contingent was led by Capt. Divya Ajith, the Navy was led by Lt Commander Sandhya Chauhan and the Air Force contingent was led by Squadron Leader Sneha Shekhawat.

French army contingent

For the first time in the history of India’s Republic Day, a foreign contingent will march with the Indian contingent in 2016. The French Army will participate in the parade along with Indian Armed forces. This year, the chief guest will be French President Francois Hollande.

A salute to the Army dog squad

Another first for India’s Republic Day this year will be to include the Army dog squad in the parade. The Indian army’s canine unit, which will see 24 Labradors and 12 German Shepherds, will return to the parade after 26 years.

Important amendments

As of August 2015, there have been 100 amendments to the Constitution of India since its establishment. Here are some of the most iconic ones throughout the years.

26th Amendment, 1971
Privy Purse—a payment made to the royal families of former rulers of princely states—was abolished after a two-year legal battle.

58th Amendment, 1987
In December 1987, the Hindi translation of the Constitution was officially accepted and a provision to publish future amendments in Hindi was made.

61st Amendment, 1988
In 1988, the voting right for an individual was lowered from 21 to 18 for Lok Sabha assembly elections—a move that gave birth to a younger generation of voters.

86th Amendment, 2002
With no amendment before for children’s education rights, the 86th Amendment provided a right for education until the age of 14 and early childhood carte until the age of six. This was later changed in December 2002 to extend the right till the age of 16.

94th Amendment, 2006
Six years after Jharkhand and Chattisgarh were established as new states in the country, a provision was made for a Minister of Tribal Welfare for the states considering the presence of tribal groups in the regions.