Every Indian heart fills with pride when wesee the National Flag unfurling on Republic Day. 26th Januarybrings outthe patriot in usbutnot everybody knows how muchsignificance the day holds for us. So, here are some facts about Republic Day that every Indian must be aware of:1. January 26, 1930 was earlier celebrated as India's Independence Day or Purna Swaraj Day. It's the day India decided to fight for completefreedom.

Source:en.wikipedia.org2.After we achievedIndependence on August 15 in 1947, our leaders wanted January 26 to be remembered in history as well. Therefore, the day was made tocoincide with the day of Swaraj.

Source:www.celebrateallfestivals.com3. The first Republic Day was celebrated on January 26, 1950, three years after we got independence.

Source:www.celebrateallfestivals.com4. Republic Day Celebrations are a 3-day long affair.The celebrations end on January 29 withtheBeating Retreat ceremony.

Source:www.aninews.in5. The first R-Day parade at Rajpath was held in 1955.

Source:images.indiascanner.com6. A Christian song, Abide With Me, is played at the Republic Day Parade. It is believed to be one ofMahatma Gandhi's favourite songs.

Source:blog.taxiforsure.com7. India's Constitution is the longest in the world. It hasatotal of 448 articles.It is written in English and Hindi.

Source:www.snipview.com8.Drafting the Constitution was a herculean task. Dr B.R. Ambedkar took 2 years and11 months todraft the Indian Constitution.

Source:en.wikipedia.org9. Our leaders took thebest aspects fromother countries' constitutions.The concept of liberty, equality and fraternity camefrom the French constitution while theFive-Year Plans came from the USSR constitution.

Source:en.wikipedia.org10. Before the Constitution came into force, India followedBritish Government's Government of India Act 1935.

Source:gs-india.blogspot.in11. A majority of national awards such as Bharat Ratna, Padma Bhushan and Kirti Chakra are awardedduring the Republic Day ceremony.