By Col Manoj Batra (Retd) · SSB faculty, The Cavalier · Senior GTO (retd), 20 SSB
The Indian armed forces keep a calendar of their own: three service days (Army Day, Air Force Day and Navy Day), days for the Coast Guard and the veterans, two victory days (Kargil Vijay Diwas and Vijay Diwas), and a long list for the Army's arms and corps. Each day marks one event, and the event is what a question asks for: not "when is Navy Day?" but "what does Navy Day commemorate?"
Papers set these as one-liners and as statement questions where two days sit a week apart, and SSB boards ask why your service has a day. This page lays the year out month by month, gives each day's origin in a line, and then sorts out the pairs that cost marks. It sits in our Defence GK library.
The Calendar: January to June
Dates were checked against Press Information Bureau (PIB) releases where PIB has covered the day, and otherwise against the services' own announcements as carried by the national press.
| Date | Day | What it marks | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan | DRDO Day | Foundation day of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, set up in 1958. See DRDO. | DRDO (MoD) |
| 14 Jan | Armed Forces Veterans' Day | Field Marshal K M Cariappa retired on this day in 1953. The 10th observance was in 2026. | All three |
| 15 Jan | Army Day | In 1949 Cariappa took over from General Sir Roy Bucher as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief. | Army |
| 26 Jan | Republic Day | The Constitution came into force in 1950; the 77th was in 2026. The wartime Chakras were instituted this day, and "Royal" was dropped from the Navy's name. | All three |
| 29 Jan | Beating Retreat | The ceremony at Vijay Chowk that closes the Republic Day celebrations. | Army, Navy, IAF and CAPF bands |
| 1 Feb | Coast Guard Day | Anniversary of the interim Coast Guard raised in 1977; the Coast Guard Act followed in 1978. The 50th Raising Day was in 2026. | Coast Guard |
| 15 Feb | Corps of Signals Day | Raising day of the Corps, formed in 1911; it runs the Army's communications. | Army |
| 24 Mar | Assam Rifles Raising Day | Raised in 1835 as the Cachar Levy, the oldest paramilitary force. The 188th was in 2023. | Assam Rifles (MHA) |
| 3 Apr | Army Medical Corps Day | Raising day of the Corps; PIB dates its raising to 1764. Motto "Sarve Santu Niramaya". | Army |
| 8 Apr | Army Ordnance Corps Day | Traced to the Board of Ordnance of 1775; the Corps supplies the Army's stores and ammunition. | Army |
| 13 Apr | Siachen Day | Operation Meghdoot was launched on this date in 1984. The 42nd was marked in 2026. See Operation Meghdoot. | Army, IAF |
| 1 May | Armoured Corps Day | Marks the start of mechanisation of the Indian cavalry in 1938, when regiments began to swap horses for tanks. | Army |
| 7 May | BRO Raising Day | The Border Roads Organisation was raised on 7 May 1960. See Border Roads Organisation. | BRO (MoD) |
June has no fixed service day.
The Calendar: July to December
The second half is heavier: October and December hold five days each, and two of them share a date.
| Date | Day | What it marks | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Jul | Kargil Vijay Diwas | Victory in Operation Vijay, 1999, when the last occupied post was cleared. The 27th was in 2026. See Kargil War 1999. | All three |
| 14 Aug | Eve of Independence Day | Not a service day, but the date the gallantry awards list is announced, as on 25 Jan for Republic Day. See gallantry awards. | All three |
| 28 Sep | Gunners' Day | Raising day of the Regiment of Artillery, from the first Indian artillery unit raised in 1827. | Army |
| 1 Oct | Military Nursing Service Day | A permanent nursing service for the Indian troops was formed on this date in 1926 (MoD). PIB records a centenary programme from 1 October 2025 to its closing ceremony on 30 September 2026. | Army (AFMS) |
| 8 Oct | Air Force Day | The Indian Air Force was raised on 8 October 1932. The 94th was in 2026. See Indian Air Force. | Air Force |
| 9 Oct | Territorial Army Day | The Territorial Army was raised on 9 October 1949 by C Rajagopalachari, India's last Governor-General (PIB). See Territorial Army. | Army |
| 15 Oct | EME Day | The Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, the Army's equipment-repair arm, was raised in 1943. | Army |
| 27 Oct | Infantry Day (Shaurya Diwas) | On this day in 1947 infantrymen were the first troops to land at Srinagar airport (PIB); the battalion was 1 Sikh (The Tribune). | Army |
| 1 Nov | Army Aviation Corps Day | The Corps was created in 1986 out of the Air Observation Post units. | Army |
| 18 Nov | Corps of Engineers Day | Marks the 1932 merger of the three sapper groups into one Corps, whose lineage goes back to the Madras Sappers of 1780. | Army |
| 4th Sunday of Nov | NCC Day | Marks the raising of the National Cadet Corps, established in 1948 (PIB). In 2026 it falls on 22 November. | NCC (MoD) |
| 4 Dec | Navy Day | Operation Trident, the missile attack on Karachi harbour in the 1971 war. | Navy |
| 7 Dec | Armed Forces Flag Day | A day of giving for ex-servicemen, Veer Naris and dependants. Observed every 7 December since 1949. | All three |
| 8 Dec | Submarine Day | INS Kalvari, the first submarine, was commissioned at Riga on 8 December 1967. See Indian Navy submarines. | Navy |
| 8 Dec | Army Service Corps Day | Raising day of the Corps, counted from 1760, in charge of the Army's supply and transport. | Army |
| 16 Dec | Vijay Diwas | Pakistan's surrender at Dhaka in 1971. See Bangladesh Liberation War 1971. | All three |
PIB announces Army, Navy and Air Force Day every year. The corps days are reported by the Army and the press, and the year a corps counts from can differ: its first unit, its merger or its present name. Remember the date and the one-line event. The regiments behind these days are on Army regiments.
Service Days Versus Founding Dates
One service day is a founding, two are battles or handovers. That is why "the day of the service" and "the year the service began" are separate questions.
| Service | Its day | The day commemorates | Founding dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 15 Jan | Cariappa becomes the first Indian C-in-C, 1949 (a handover) | Traces to the Presidency armies; the modern Army dates from independence |
| Navy | 4 Dec | Operation Trident at Karachi, 1971 (a battle) | Marine of 1612; Royal Indian Navy 1934; "Royal" dropped 26 Jan 1950 |
| Air Force | 8 Oct | Raising of the Indian Air Force, 1932 (a founding) | Raised 1932; "Royal" added 1945, dropped Jan 1950 |
| Coast Guard | 1 Feb | Interim raising, 1977 (a founding) | Coast Guard Act, 1978 |
The traps: Navy Day is not the Navy's birthday, so a question that offers 1612, 1934 and 1950 beside 4 December is testing exactly this. The Air Force has been "Indian" since 1932; what came and went is "Royal", 1945 to 1950, so "Indian prefix 1945" is wrong. And Army Day is a handover: the Army did not begin in 1949, an Indian took command that year.
Army Day, Veterans' Day, Republic Day and Flag Day
The first week of January and the first week of December produce most of the wrong answers.
- 14 January, Armed Forces Veterans' Day: Cariappa's retirement in 1953. Rallies, wreaths and grievance counters for veterans across the country.
- 15 January, Army Day: Cariappa's taking over in 1949. The Chief of the Army Staff takes the salute.
- 26 January, Republic Day: the Constitution in force, 1950. The President, as Supreme Commander, takes the salute.
The Veterans' Day name changes with the document. PIB wrote "Armed Forces Veterans' Day" in 2025 and "Defence Forces Veterans' Day" for the tenth observance in January 2026. Both mean 14 January.
Flag Day is a collection day. Around 7 December the Raksha Mantri appeals to citizens and companies to give to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund, which pays for the welfare of ex-servicemen, disabled personnel, Veer Naris and the dependants of the fallen. The fund runs through the Kendriya Sainik Board and its Rajya and Zila Sainik Boards, so "which board administers it?" has Kendriya Sainik Board as its answer.
January: 14, 15, 26 (Veterans', Army, Republic). December: 4, 7, 8, 16 (Navy, Flag Day, Submarines with the Army Service Corps, Vijay Diwas).
Wars and Operations: Anniversary Dates
Several days above are anniversaries of wars. The table sets the war dates next to the days they produced. The full account of each war, with codenames and results, is on the wars and operations page.
| War or operation | Key dates | The day it gave us |
|---|---|---|
| Kashmir war, 1947-48 | Raiders enter 22 Oct 1947; accession 26 Oct; troops land at Srinagar 27 Oct; ceasefire 1 Jan 1949 | Infantry Day, 27 Oct |
| Sino-Indian War, 1962 | 20 Oct to 21 Nov 1962; Rezang La on 18 Nov | None fixed in the calendar |
| Indo-Pak War, 1965 | Aug to 23 Sep 1965 (ceasefire); Tashkent Declaration 10 Jan 1966 | None fixed in the calendar |
| Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971 | 3 Dec to 16 Dec; Operation Trident on 4 Dec | Navy Day, 4 Dec; Vijay Diwas, 16 Dec |
| Operation Meghdoot | 13 Apr 1984 | Siachen Day, 13 Apr |
| Kargil War, 1999 | May to 26 Jul 1999; Tololing retaken 13 Jun, Tiger Hill 4 Jul (PIB) | Kargil Vijay Diwas, 26 Jul |
| Operation Sindoor | 7 to 10 May 2025 | No fixed day; the first anniversary was marked in May 2026 |
No fixed day exists for the 1962 and 1965 wars. We also found no PIB notice fixing an annual day for Galwan (15-16 June 2020); for Operation Sindoor, PIB reported events around the first anniversary on 7 May 2026, including the Joint Commanders' Conference on 7-8 May, but no standing day. Two pairs get mixed up most: 16 December and 26 July are both "Vijay" (1971 and 1999), and 3 and 4 December 1971 are Pakistan's air strikes and the Navy's Karachi strike.
How the Days Are Observed
PIB's accounts of recent years show one pattern: a wreath, a message and one set-piece event.
- Wreath-laying. The Chiefs, the CDS and the Raksha Mantri lay wreaths at the National War Memorial in Delhi or a command's war memorial. On Infantry Day 2025 the Army Chief laid his at the Amar Chakra; at the 2026 Army Day parade in Jaipur the wreath went to the Prerna Sthal, with the Navy and IAF represented.
- Greetings. The Prime Minister, the Raksha Mantri and the CDS post greetings on each service day, and PIB prints them. These feed many current-affairs questions.
- Parades and demonstrations. Army Day has a parade; Air Force Day a parade and flypast with the President's Colours marched in (2026: Air Force Station Hindan, theme "Infallible, Impervious and Precise"); Navy Day an operational demonstration on a coast (Visakhapatnam 2022, Sindhudurg 2023, Thiruvananthapuram 2025) ending with Beating Retreat and a sunset ceremony.
- Medals and welfare. The Jaipur parade began with the Sena Medal (Gallantry) going to next of kin; the formal ceremony is the Defence Investiture. Veterans' Day has rallies and help desks; Flag Day has the collection drive.
- Kargil. In 2026 the Raksha Mantri flagged off a motorcycle expedition from the National War Memorial to the Kargil War Memorial and led tributes at Drass, where a "Veeron Ki Mitti" kalash and a Beating Retreat are part of the programme.
The origin of these customs is on ceremonial traditions.
- 16 Dec 2025: on Vijay Diwas the President inaugurated the Param Vir Dirgha, portraits of all 21 Param Vir Chakra recipients, at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- 14-15 Jan 2026: the tenth Veterans' Day, then the 78th Army Day parade at Jaipur, the fourth outside Delhi and the first outside a cantonment.
- 29 Jan 2026: Beating Retreat closed the Republic Day celebrations with Indian tunes, its enclosures named after Indian instruments.
- 1 Feb and 8 Oct 2026: the Coast Guard's 50th Raising Day; the 94th Air Force Day at Hindan.
Where to Go Next
Cariappa's other firsts are on military firsts, and the exercise calendar is on military exercises. For current affairs, our explainers on Kargil Vijay Diwas 2026, the Territorial Army and NCC and Sainik Schools cover three of the days above; the daily defence notes carry each new one.
Practise on NDA and CDS past papers and revise from the NDA study material. Boards ask "why does your service have a day?" in the interview, and the SSB current affairs page keeps recent answers ready. For the entries to the Army, see the Army career guide and the Territorial Army page; our NDA coaching batches teach defence GK with weekly tests and SSB training.
Exam pins
- Army Day, 15 January: Cariappa took over from General Sir Roy Bucher in 1949, the first Indian C-in-C. Veterans' Day, 14 January: his retirement in 1953.
- Republic Day is 26 January; Beating Retreat 29 January; DRDO Day 1 January.
- Coast Guard Day, 1 February: the interim raising of 1977; the Act is 1978.
- Siachen Day, 13 April: Operation Meghdoot, 1984. BRO raised 7 May 1960.
- Kargil Vijay Diwas, 26 July (1999) is not Vijay Diwas, 16 December (1971).
- Air Force Day, 8 October: raised 1932; "Royal" 1945 to 1950. Territorial Army Day is 9 October (raised 1949).
- Infantry Day, 27 October: 1 Sikh landed at Srinagar in 1947. NCC Day: the fourth Sunday of November (22 November in 2026).
- Navy Day, 4 December: Operation Trident, Karachi, 1971, not the Navy's founding; "Royal" dropped 26 January 1950.
- Armed Forces Flag Day, 7 December (since 1949): the fund for ex-servicemen and Veer Naris, through the Kendriya Sainik Board.
- 8 December is both Submarine Day (INS Kalvari, Riga, 1967) and the Army Service Corps Day.
Asked in past papers
Direct "which day" questions are rare in the official papers. Questions ask about the person, the force or the operation behind a day, and the day gives you the answer when you know it.
Who among the following was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army of independent India?
(a) S. M. Srinagesh (b) K. M. Cariappa (c) K. S. Thimayya (d) K. S. Rajendrasinhji
Answer: (b). Cariappa took over on 15 January 1949, which is why that date is Army Day. The other three headed the Army later, in the order Rajendrasinhji, Srinagesh, Thimayya.
Which one of the following is the oldest Central Paramilitary Force in India?
(a) The Central Reserve Police Force (b) The Border Security Force (c) The Assam Rifles (d) The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action
Answer: (c). The Assam Rifles began as the Cachar Levy in 1835 (raising day 24 March). The CRPF dates from 1939, the BSF from 1965 and CoBRA is the newest.
Arrange the following military operations undertaken by India against Pakistan in correct chronological order: 1. Operation Cactus Lily 2. Operation Riddle 3. Operation Meghdoot 4. Operation Safed Sagar. Codes: (a) 1-2-3-4 (b) 2-1-3-4 (c) 4-1-2-3 (d) 4-2-1-3
Answer: (b). The order is Riddle (1965), Cactus Lily (1971), Meghdoot (13 April 1984) and Safed Sagar (1999). Option (a) swaps the two war operations.
Which one of the following is the motto of NCC?
(a) Unity and Discipline (b) Unity and Integrity (c) Unity and Command (d) Unity and Service
Answer: (a). "Unity and Discipline" is the NCC's motto; "Unity and Integrity" sounds right and is not.
Questions use a day only as the way in. They ask about the man, the operation or the ministry behind it. Learn each day as a pair, date + event, and who runs the force: the Assam Rifles is under the Home Ministry, while the Territorial Army, NCC and Coast Guard come under Defence. Past-paper pages for NDA and CDS show how often each force turns up.
Practice MCQs (with answers)
- Army Day, 15 January, marks
- Field Marshal Cariappa's retirement in 1953
- Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief in 1949
- the Constitution coming into force in 1950
- the airlanding of infantry at Srinagar in 1947
- Which two service days fall on the same date?
- Navy Day and Submarine Day
- Air Force Day and Territorial Army Day
- Submarine Day and Army Service Corps Day
- Armed Forces Flag Day and Vijay Diwas
- The Territorial Army, raised in 1949 by C Rajagopalachari, India's last Governor-General, observes its day on
- 9 October
- 8 October
- 27 October
- 15 October
- Consider the statements on Armed Forces Flag Day. 1. It is observed on 7 December. 2. Contributions go to a fund for ex-servicemen and their dependants. 3. It marks the 1971 victory. Which are correct?
- 1 only
- 1 and 3
- 2 and 3
- 1 and 2
- Vijay Diwas, 16 December, commemorates
- the clearing of Kargil in 1999
- the liberation of Goa in 1961
- Pakistan's surrender at Dhaka in 1971
- the Hyderabad action of 1948
- Armed Forces Veterans' Day, 14 January, honours
- General Thimayya's term as Chief
- the retirement of Field Marshal Cariappa in 1953
- the founding of the Kendriya Sainik Board
- the Kashmir ceasefire of 1949
1-b, 2-c, 3-a, 4-d, 5-c, 6-b. Q1: (a) is Veterans' Day, (c) Republic Day, (d) Infantry Day. Q2: Air Force Day (8 Oct) and Territorial Army Day (9 Oct) are neighbours, not twins; the 8 December pair is Submarine Day and the Army Service Corps Day. Q3: 8 October is Air Force Day, 27 October Infantry Day, 15 October EME Day. Q4: statement 3 is Vijay Diwas. Q5: Kargil is 26 July; Goa is 1961, Hyderabad 1948. Q6: Veterans' Day is the retirement, one day before Army Day, the taking over.
Frequently asked questions
When is Army Day celebrated in India and why?
Army Day is on 15 January. On that day in 1949 Field Marshal K M Cariappa took over from General Sir Roy Bucher as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief. The 2026 parade, the 78th, was at Jaipur.
What is the difference between Navy Day and the Navy's founding date?
Navy Day, 4 December, commemorates Operation Trident, the Navy's missile attack on Karachi harbour in the 1971 war. It is not the Navy's foundation date. The Navy traces its lineage to the Marine of 1612, became the Royal Indian Navy in 1934, and dropped the "Royal" on 26 January 1950.
What is the difference between Vijay Diwas and Kargil Vijay Diwas?
Vijay Diwas is 16 December and marks Pakistan's surrender at Dhaka in the 1971 war. Kargil Vijay Diwas is 26 July and marks the success of Operation Vijay in 1999, when the last occupied post was cleared.
What is Armed Forces Flag Day and when is it observed?
Armed Forces Flag Day is observed on 7 December, a practice since 1949. Citizens and companies are asked to contribute to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund, which supports ex-servicemen, disabled personnel, Veer Naris and dependants of the fallen. The Kendriya Sainik Board and its state and district boards administer it.
Why is Air Force Day celebrated on 8 October?
The Indian Air Force was raised on 8 October 1932, and the day marks that raising. The 94th Air Force Day was held on 8 October 2026 at Air Force Station Hindan. The "Royal" prefix was added in 1945 and dropped in January 1950, so a question that says the "Indian" name came in 1945 is wrong.
More in Defence GK
Sources: pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2214965 · pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2214529 · pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2320862 · pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2198758
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