India's 77th Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2026 turned out to be one with distinct differences and historic firsts compared to previous years. Designed to blend the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram (should correctly/phonetically be spelt Vandey Maataram, meaning "I bow to thee, Mother") with the theme of "Atma Nirbhar" (self-reliant) India, there was a strong emphasis on operational realism, indigenous military weapon systems and international partnerships.

The significance of the song Vande Mataram is that composed by the famous Bengali poet and writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875, it became a major source of fury, fear, and frustration for the British colonial government in India, serving as a powerful rallying cry for the freedom movement. The song was perceived as a direct threat to the British because it conveyed that patriotism was a religious duty for liberating the motherland. Featuring in Chattopadhyay’s famous novel Anandmath in 1882, it transformed the concept of the motherland into a personified goddess, Bharat Mata (Bharat considered a culturally appropriate name vis a vis India and Mata, meaning mother), it became a potent symbol of resistance during the 1905 Swadeshi Movement against the partition of Bengal, with chanting Vande Mataram became a rallying cry that the British eventually banned. In 1950, it was formally adopted as the National Song by the Constituent Assembly. Around 2,500 cultural artists performed in the 2026 Republic Day Parade singing Vande Mataram.

While European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were the chief guests, the invitation list expanded to include 10,000 "special guests," including construction workers from the Kartavya Path (formerly Rajpath) renovation project, underlining a shift toward more inclusive rather than elite participation. 

The key elements in the 77th Republic Day Parade were:

• Breaking from the tradition of only marching columns, the Indian Army showcased a "phased battle array" for the first time, mirroring real combat-zone deployment. This included a sequence of new military, technological, and specialized units, highlighting the country's defence self-reliance and modernization. Important first timers included elements of  Bhairav Light Commando Battalion, Shaktiban Regiment (specialised artillery), Suryastra rocket launcher, Ajayketu ATV (all-terrain vehicle), Randhwaj rugged terrain tactical transport system specialized vehicle deployed by the Indian Army Special Forces for mobility in difficult, high-altitude, or challenging terrain) and the Dhawansak light strike vehicle.
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• Specialized units which were seen for the first time were the newly raised Shaktiban Regiment utilizing unmanned aerial systems, loitering munitions, and advanced counter-drone capabilities and Bhairav light commando battalion, designed to act as a bridge between conventional infantry and special forces, specifically for rapid, high-impact operations.
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• The parade highlighted India's optimum use of indigenously manufactured weapons in Operation Sindoor, the May 2025 strike against Pakistan’s terrorist and military bases, with a tri-services tableau and a special flypast formation comprising the Rafale, Su-30, MiG-29, and Jaguar fighter jets flying in formations "Sindoor," "Arjan," "Vajraang," and "Varuna".
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• Examples of technology and innovation were the Long Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile (LR-AShM), the BrahMos, and Akash missile systems.
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• Very impressive new entrants in the unique animal contingent in the parade and seen for the first time were the Zanskar ponies and Bactrian camels for carrying loads in mountainous areas and army dogs, highlighting operations in extreme terrains like Ladakh and Siachen. Since 2017, the Indian Army dog squad includes several indigenous Indian dog breeds like the Mudhol Hound, Rampur Hound, Rajapalayam, Kombai, and Chippiparai, which are being increasingly inducted for their superior adaptability, endurance, and expertise in IED detection and counter-insurgency operations. These native breeds are trained at the Army's Remount & Veterinary Corps Centre in Meerut and participated in the 2026  Republic Day animal contingent. Also displayed were four raptors, in this case black kites, which are a cost-effective counter-drone weapon to intercept, disable, and neutralize small hostile quadcopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
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• For the first time, 66 Agniveers (personnel recruited into the Indian Armed Forces (Army, Navy, and Air Force for a four-year term under the Agnipath scheme introduced on June 14, 2022), including nine women, participated in the Indian Air Force marching band.
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This writer, who has witnessed Republic Day parades every year from ages 5 to 15 in the 1950s-60s and later for five years in the 199os, as a Defence Ministry /Indian Army spokesperson noted few noteworthy additions and changes in the annual ceremonial parade.

During the 50s-60s, on every Republic Day, before the parade began, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to walk down Rajpath (now Kartavya Path) past many enclosures, mainly to wave to the children sitting on the ground in the front of  the enclosures and playfully tweak the cheeks of some of them as he was fondly called Chacha Nehru (Uncle Nehru) by the children. 

In those parades the armed forces and police all had the same ancient Lee Enfield .303 bolt action rifles. It was only in the Republic Day Parade of 1966 that the armed forces personnel held the new 7.62 mm new self-loading rifle (SLR) manufactured at the Ishapore Ordnance Factory in 1965 after India’s humiliating defeat in the 1962 India-China war.

Nehru had to sack Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon and learned the hard way of the need for modernising the forces that kickstarted the production of 7.62 SLRs, subsequently used in the 1965 India-Pakistan war. Also followed were T-54 and T-55 battle tanks, MIG aircraft and other equipment from the erstwhile USSR, India's primary military hardware supplier for decades, all of which was later showcased in Republic Day parades.

(The author, a strategic affairs analyst and former spokesperson, Defence Ministry and Indian Army, can be contacted at wordsword02@gmail.com, https://www.linkedin.com/in/anil-bhat-70b94766/ and @ColAnilBhat8252, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPJKaZOcAt9K8fcDkb_onng )