The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on 4 April 1949 by NATO’s 12 founding members. In the 75 years since, the Alliance has grown to include 32 Allies from Europe and North America. Throughout 2024, NATO Allies celebrated the Alliance’s 75th anniversary – and the anniversaries of their accessions to NATO – by painting murals, playing music, sharing birthday cake and bringing NATO blue to every corner of the Alliance.
Flying the flag
The United Kingdom celebrated the Alliance’s 75th anniversary by flying the NATO flag – and the national flags of all 32 NATO Allies – along The Mall leading up to Buckingham Palace in London. The UK capital is particularly significant in NATO history, since it served as home to NATO Headquarters for the Alliance’s first three years. (Photo credit: Reuters/Maja Smiejkowska)
NATO’s newest member, Sweden, joined the Alliance on 7 March 2024. To mark this milestone, Sweden flew the NATO flag alongside its own national colours across the country – including in front of the Arvfurstens palats, the seat of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. In the lead-up to Sweden’s accession to NATO, Swedish flag manufacturers were busy producing hundreds of NATO flags for government offices, businesses and private citizens to raise. (Photo credits – Above: Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Below: TT News Agency/Anders Wiklund via Reuters)
On 4 April 2024, Finland celebrated not just the Alliance’s 75th anniversary, but also its one-year anniversary of NATO membership. Like its Nordic ally Sweden, Finland flew NATO flags alongside its national flags in front of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on NATO Day. (Photo credit: Finnish Delegation to NATO)
As the home of NATO Headquarters, Belgium hosted an official ceremony on the day of NATO’s 75th anniversary itself, 4 April 2024. Outside of NATO HQ, monuments throughout Brussels were decorated to mark NATO’s anniversary. The iconic Manneken Pis statue, one of the best-known symbols of Brussels, donned a special NATO Day costume to join the festivities. (Photo credit: NATO)
Throughout the 75th anniversary year, the NATO Association of Canada asked people to send in photos of the Alliance’s signature blue flag flying in creative and significant locations across the country. One submission showed the NATO flag on Seacow Head Lighthouse in Prince Edward Island, a local landmark made famous by the TV series Road to Avonlea, based on the Anne of Green Gables stories of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Other locations include branches of the Royal Canadian Legion, military cemeteries and people’s homes. (Photo credit: NATO Association of Canada)
Germany celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Alliance by flying the NATO flag alongside the German and European Union flags at government offices across Berlin, including in front of the iconic Bundestag building. (Photo credit: German Foreign Ministry)
Latvia marked its 20th anniversary in NATO with several celebrations, including with soldiers and civilians unfurling Latvia’s 20th anniversary flag in front of the Freedom Monument in Riga during a visit of the Chair of NATO’s Military Committee on 28 March 2024. (Photo credit: NATO)
Lithuania celebrated its 20th anniversary of NATO membership by flying a gigantic 540-square-metre NATO flag from the Vilnius TV Tower – the tallest building in Lithuania – during the day, and lighting up the landmark in NATO blue at night. (Photo credits – Day: E. Blažio / LRT nuotr; Night: Made in Vilnius)
Taking to the skies
Croatia celebrated its 15th anniversary of NATO membership on 1 April 2024. To mark this milestone, on 25 April 2024, the United Kingdom Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows performed an air show at Zemunik Air Base in Croatia, showcasing the Croatian national colours in honour of their NATO Ally. (Photo credit: UK RAF Red Arrows)
Normally, the only symbol on Denmark’s fighter jets is the Danish national flag. But for NATO’s 75th anniversary, the Royal Danish Air Force painted the NATO emblem onto the tail of an F-16 Fighting Falcon, carrying this symbol of Allied unity into the sky. (Photo credit: Royal Danish Air Force)
On 21 August 2024, Italian and US aircraft performed in a NATO 75th anniversary air show at Hampton Roads near Virginia Beach in the United States. The Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori headlined the demonstration with their signature green, white and red smoke trailing across the sky. Known as the “Tricolour Arrows” in English, the team toured North America for the first time in more than 30 years. (Photo credit: NATO Allied Command Transformation)
Romania also hosted an air show celebrating NATO’s 75th anniversary and the country’s 20th anniversary of NATO membership. On 3 August 2024, Romanian and US air crews performed for the public at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base near the Black Sea. As part of the show, a paratrooper with a Romanian flag parachute carried the NATO flag while descending. (Photo credit: US Army/Pfc Jason Sessions)
To celebrate its 25th anniversary of NATO membership, Poland arranged F-16 fighter jets and Polish troops in a NATO compass formation. (Photo credit: Polish Air Force)
Standing with the troops
Ahead of its 15th anniversary of NATO membership, Albania officially re-opened Kuçova airbase on 4 March 2024, after transforming the decades-old Soviet-era airbase into a modern hub for NATO future air operations. Located around 80 kilometres south of Tirana, the NATO Tactical Air Base in Kuçova will serve Albania and support Alliance logistics, air operations, training and exercises. (Photo credit: Albanian delegation to NATO)
On 17 April 2024, soldiers from Germany, Spain and the United States posed for a photo with the NATO flag during exercise Saber Strike 24 at Bemowo Piskie Training Ground in Poland. Saber Strike was part of exercise Steadfast Defender 24 – the largest NATO military exercise that took place during the 75th anniversary year, involving over 90,000 troops from all 32 NATO Allies. (Photo credit: US Army/Sgt Omar Joseph Sr.)
On 4 April 2024, troops from Spain, the United States, Slovenia, Germany, Czechia and Slovakia stood shoulder-to-shoulder at NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Slovakia – one of the eight multinational battlegroups along NATO’s eastern flank. (Photo credit: NATO Multinational Battlegroup in Slovakia)
Troops at NATO Multinational Brigade Latvia celebrated the Alliance’s 75th anniversary on 4 April 2024 with a large NATO birthday cake, covered in fresh berries and NATO blue icing. (Photo credit: EPA-EFE)
Soldiers from Türkiye, the United States, Spain and Poland stood side-by-side at Incirlik Air Base near Adana in southern Türkiye on 28 March 2024, spelling out N-A-T-O from above. (Photo credit: US Air Force/Senior Airman Essence Myricks)
Civilian and military staff working at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium celebrated NATO’s anniversary on 4 April 2024 by forming the number 75 and holding up the NATO flag. (Photo credit: SHAPE/SFC Dennis Sattler)
Making public art
As part of Bulgaria’s celebrations for its 20th anniversary of NATO membership, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised a street art competition called “Bulgaria – More Beautiful in NATO”. On 7 November 2024, the first of five graffiti art murals was unveiled in Blagoevgrad. Created by graffiti studio The Graffs, the mural depicts a young soldier with a NATO badge on her shoulder. The soldier is holding a sprouting plant and is surrounded by serene mountains and a colourful cityscape. (Photo credit: Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Dancing in the streets
Estonia marked its 20th anniversary of NATO membership with public outreach activities across the country, including demonstrations of military equipment by troops from NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Estonia. This included Estonian, French and UK forces – and the British Army’s Pipes and Drums orchestra performing traditional dances for the public in town squares. (Photo credit: Sille Annuk/Tartu Postimees)
The Norfolk NATO Festival celebrated its own 71st anniversary in 2024, bringing together Allies from across Europe and North America to Norfolk, Virginia – the home of NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT). During the festival’s main parade, French soldiers from the XV du Pacifique military rugby team – which is composed of troops from France’s Pacific territories Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futana – performed a traditional haka dance for the public. (Photo credit: NATO Allied Command Transformation)
Running together
Hungary celebrated its 25th anniversary of NATO membership at the NATO Run in Budapest, which brought together thousands of participants for 10- and 4-kilometre runs and a 10-kilometre relay race on 24 September 2024. The NATO Run has been an annual tradition since 2006. Hungary also organised a 3.5-kilometre run together with Czechia and Poland, which also joined NATO in 1999, in Bydgoszcz, Poland in March 2024. (Photo credits – Left: HM Zrínyi; Right: NATO Joint Force Training Centre/Lieutenant Colonel Gábor Endrődi)
On 13 April 2024, the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai – home of the NATO Air Policing mission in the country – hosted a “Runway Run” event celebrating Lithuania’s 20 years of NATO membership. Around 10,000 people, including Allied military members and local civilians, ran the 3-kilometre track along the runway. (Photo credit: Lithuanian Air Force)
Making merry music
On 8 April 2024, NATO’s Joint Force Command Naples organised a 75th anniversary concert in the city’s historic Teatro di San Carlo – the world’s oldest working opera house, which dates back to 1737. The concert featured music by the US Naval Forces Europe band and 11 musicians from other Allies, including a show choir dressed in NATO blue. It also saw the debut of a new musical composition, “Defend Every Inch; #WEARENATO” composed by Dr and Chief Musician Christopher Buchanan. (Photo credit: JFC Naples)
On the eve of its 20th anniversary of NATO membership, Slovenia hosted a national celebration at Brdo pri Kranju (Brdo Castle), which also featured musical performances celebrating NATO. (Photo credit: Office of the President of Slovenia)
On 10 July 2024, during the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington D.C., the leaders of all 32 NATO Allies attended a state dinner at the White House. The event included a marching band performance across the White House lawn. (Photo credit: Reuters/Ken Cedeno)