Jakarta. The Indonesian military made its debut at France’s Bastille Day parade in Paris on Monday as the troops showed off their marching styles.

Indonesia opened the military parade as this year’s guest of honor. The squad members marched along the Champs-Élysées with “Maju Tak Gentar” (‘March on Without Fear’) playing. This song, composed by Cornel Simanjuntak, is known for its moderately fast tempo and patriotic feel. The members also donned animal headgears —ranging from sharks, leopards, walruses to eagles— all of which symbolize their respective services. The color guards carried Indonesia’s red-and-white flag and the French Tricolor. 

President Prabowo Subianto watched the parade from the royal box, standing right next to host Emmanuel Macron. The retired army general even gave a salute to the Indonesian military as they passed by. 

Indonesia had sent a 451-strong squad comprising military officers from all services, cadets, and its police force. The Defense Ministry reported that this was the biggest squad that a foreign country had ever sent on Bastille Day.  

Macron recently called on his armed forces to join hands with Indonesia, a country that he described as being like-minded despite being far away geographically. 

“Let’s defend this freedom alongside other great nations, our European partners, our allies, but also the nations that are far away from us like Indonesia, whom we have invited on July 14, who refuse the idea of blocs and imperialism in the Indo-Pacific, just like us,” Macron said on the eve of Bastille Day on Sunday.

Macron had only been in Jakarta two months ago, and even became the first European leader to visit Jakarta since Prabowo assumed power last October. Indonesia has inked a deal to purchase French-made Rafale fighter jets as the Southeast Asian country intends to modernize its military arsenal. 

Bastille Day celebrates the storming of the Bastille. This was a major moment in the French Revolution that eventually ended the country’s old political system.