Armies from former colonies celebrating 50 years of independence were invited to join the military parade.

Heads of state and troops from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad and Togo watched from the official stand.

The storming of the Bastille in 1789 is viewed symbolically as the birth of the modern French republic.

In recent times, it has become customary to invite foreign units to march in the parade - in 2004, British troops led the parade to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale.