The French National Day is celebrated on the 14th of July to commemorate the day that the Bastille Prison was stormed 232 years ago, thus marking the fall of the absolute monarchy in France. Until 1789, tthat fortress had become a symbol of royal arbitrariness and absolutism, and so the riots that forced the liberation of its prisoners were indeed one of the events that set the French Revolution alight.

Since then, the 14th of July has marked the most important date in the French calendar:
la Fête Nationale. On 14 July 2021, the Anciens Combattants of Victoria, together with the students from Camberwell Primary School and Caulfield Junior College gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance for a commemoration ceremony. The Honorary Consul General of France, Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie said that « The French National Day is a celebration of the fundamental values of France, values that transcend race and religion, values that are perpetual and noble, the values of Liberty, Egality and Fraternity”.

After her speech, wreaths were laid and the congregation then gatehred outside for the traditional photo under the flags.