On friday morning, India's 75th Republic Day, President draupadi murmu and French President Emmanuel Macron took part in a grand procession from Rashtrapati Bhavan to Kartavya Road.

For this short-distance ceremonial visit, the two presidents traveled in an open-top colonial-era carriage. After a gap of almost 40 years, the President's carriage has been used again for the Republic Day celebrations. A luxury car with conventional armor will be used for this.

Well, let's see the history of this car.

Pulled by six horses, this charat chariot, black in color with gold-plated rims, red velvet interior and Ashoka wheel, was originally owned by the Viceroy of india during the british rule. It was used for ceremonial purposes and for the President (then Viceroy) to travel around the estate.

However, with the end of colonial rule, india and the newly formed pakistan competed for this luxurious carriage. Both countries came up with a unique solution to decide which country could ultimately keep it. It's just a lucky coin toss.

A lucky coin toss

A yes coin was tossed and it was decided that the winners could keep the cart. After this Colonel Thakur Gobind Singh of india and Sahabzada Yakub Khan of pakistan tossed the coin. As fate would have it, Colonel Singh claimed his victory for india and took possession of the vehicle.

Later, the vehicle was used to ride the President from Rashtrapati Bhavan to parliament for the swearing-in ceremony. The carriage was also used to escort the Head of State to the Beating Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk on Kardavya Road marking the end of the Republic Day celebrations on january 29.

A few years after independence, the use of the carriage, which was a common mode of transportation for the President, was discontinued due to security threats. These famous vehicles were later replaced by bulletproof cars. Finally in 2014, this historic vehicle was put back into use. President pranab mukherjee was here to attend the Beating Retreat.