Till 1954, Republic day was celebrated at different venues like Red fort, Ramlila ground, Irwin stadium (now National stadium) and Kingsway (now Rajpath).
Calling special guests on Republic day has been a tradition since 1950.
Although 10 times no special guest was called for the Republic day Parade. (1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970)
There were two years when two guests were called for the occasion. (1968 and 1974)
First guest for the Republic day Parade was President Sukarno of Indonesia.
Pakistan has graced the occasion twice in 1955 and 1965, just 10 weeks before the 1965 conflict with Pakistan started.
Chinese dignitary has graced the occasion once in 1958.
French dignitary became a republic day guest five times. Francois Hollande was the guest in 2016. France has been the guest for maximum number of times.
Bhutan is number 2 with being guest four times for Republic day Parade.
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