site.btaBulgaria Marks Day of Valour with Flag Blessing and Parade

The Day of Valour and the Bulgarian Armed Forces Day will be observed with a water blessing ceremony for the battle flags and sacred banners, followed by a military parade without ground vehicles, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release on Tuesday.

The ceremony is set to start at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Sofia. The National Guard Unit and the Guard Representative Brass Band is set to participate in the event, with wreaths and flowers to be placed at the monument in honour of the Bulgarian soldiers who gave their lives for Bulgaria’s freedom.

No ground equipment to be featured in military parade

The military parade in 2025 will not include any ground equipment, but the most valuable part of the army – its personnel – will be on display, commander of the parade and head of the Joint Special Operations Command Bozhidar Boykov said earlier in May.

More than 700 service members are set to participate in the parade on Knyaz Alexander I Square in Sofia. Eight representative groups will form the parade: the National Guard Unit, Land Forces, Second Mechanised Brigade, Air Force, Navy, Joint Special Operations Command, Vasil Levski National Military University, and Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy. A Mi-17 helicopter carrying Bulgaria’s national flag, along with two AS-532 AL Cougar helicopters, are set to fly over the square at the start of the parade,

The Guard Representative Brass Band, together with the Land Forces Brass Band, will participate in the parade, as well as the Colour Guard Platoon of the National Guard Unit carrying the sacred flags. President Rumen Radev will review the honour guard of the Bulgarian army’s representative units and deliver a speech to mark the holiday, the press secretariat of the President said.

The National Museum of Military History

The National Museum of Military History will celebrate May 6 with a special program. Visitors are welcome to explore the permanent chronological and outdoor exhibitions. Admission will also be free to the temporary exhibitions “The Scars of War: Sofia’s Lost Architectural Heritage” and “The Bulgarian Army – 20 Years in NATO,” the museum announced.

In the Exhibits Come to Life exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to enter the cockpits of some of the most notable items in the outdoor exhibition – the Mi-2 and Mi-8 helicopters and the 2K 52 Frog Luna-M missile complex.

The Bulgarian Army through the Eyes of Military Reporters

The Information Centre of the Ministry of Defence is organising a photo exhibition titled The Bulgarian Army through the Eyes of Military Reporters, which features memorable moments from the Armed Forces captured by reporters from the Military TV Channel and the Bulgarian Army newspaper. The exhibition will be displayed in the open area in front of the Information Centre of the Ministry of Defence.

Day of Valour and Celebration of the Bulgarian Army over the Years

May 6 was first marked as a holiday of the Bulgarian Army and established as Day of Valour by a decree on January 9, 1880, by Prince Alexander I. The ceremony included a memorial service in the garrisons, greetings, lunch for the holders of the Order of Bravery and limited military parades, information from the Reference Department of BTA shows.

Until 1919, in addition to May 6 – the Day of Valour, a Day of Combat Glory was observed on November 27 to honour the victory of the Bulgarian Army in the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885). As Bulgaria was forced to sign the Treaty of Neuilly on November 27, 1919, the Day of Combat Glory was not marked in the 1920s.

From 1926, the Day of Valour and the Day of Combat Glory were merged into the Day of Valour and Victories, celebrated on St George’s Day (May 6). In 1931, the Day of Valour and Victories was declared the official holiday of the Bulgarian Army, celebrated until 1953, when a decision of the Council of Ministers set September 23 as Day of the Bulgarian People’s Army (anniversary of the start of the September uprisings in 1923).

With a decree by the Council of Ministers on May 30, 1991, August 23 was declared Celebration of the Bulgarian Army, in honour of the victory (1877) of the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps at Shipka Peak during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). Again, with a Council of Ministers decision on January 27, 1993, until 1998, May 6 was marked as Celebration of the Bulgarian Army. From May 6, 1998, the day has been marked as St George’s Day, Day of Valour and Bulgarian Army.