General

Rome marks National Unity and Armed Forces Day

03 Nov, 2017

Military parade and Frecce Tricolori flyover in central Rome on 4 November.

Italian president Sergio Mattarella will attend the annual ceremony at Rome’s Altare della Patria to mark national unity and armed forces on Saturday 4 November.

More than 3,000 troops are expected to participate in the military parade which will be inspected by President Mattarella and Italy's defence minister Roberta Pinotti.

At 09.30 the president will lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Piazza Venezia in honour of Italy’s war dead and casualties of international peacekeeping missions. A highlight of the annual event is the flyover by the Italian air force’s Frecce Tricolori aerial acrobatic team, emitting plumes of the three colours from the Italian flag. This year there will be an additional aerial display by five military helicopters flying over Palazzo Venezia.

The date of the annual military ceremony, 4 November, coincides with the anniversary of the armistice of Villa Giusti in 1918, which ended world war one on the Italian front.

Numerous traffic detours are expected in the city centre between 09.00 and 11.00.