Malaysian Independence Day parade

The Independence Day Parade (Malay: Perarakan Hari Merdeka) is held every 31 August in commemoration of Malaya's independence. Since independence, the event has been usually held at the Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur, the original site of the first independence parade held on 1 September 1957.

There were also times where the celebrations were held on a smaller scale. In 2009, the national day parade was held at a small scale in the Parliament of Malaysia. The audience was reduced to 4,000 because of the 2009 flu pandemic at that time. The 2010 parade was also the first time that an Independence Day Parade will be held indoors instead of outdoors, with the 2011 celebrations originally planned to be held in a larger arena due to the success of that year's edition but was later planned to be at the Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur to be held on 16 September, Malaysia Day, for the very first time.

The human graphic display is one of the many regular features of the parade, together with the mass presentation by members of Soka Gakkai Malaysia and the Selangor Department of Education, dressed in the colours of the national flag, forming different displays in the ground, as well as of an multi-racial percussion (and sometimes instrumental) component.

Apart from the larger national-level parade, there are also smaller parades held at state level, with diginitaries such as the state monarch or governor and the state's menteri besar or chief minister among the guests of honours.