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The Standard of the President or the president's flag will be raised at the Riga Castle at 9 a.m. on Monday, while the president's flag will be brought down from the president's temporary residence at the House of Blackheads at 8:40 a.m. on Monday.

In the solemn ceremony of restoration of the guard of honour and hoisting of the Standard of the President will be attended by former Presidents of Latvia, the NAF representatives and employees of the Chancery of the President of Latvia.

The renovation of the Riga Castle has been planned in two phases. The first phase that began in 2009 and was completed in December 2015. The part of the castle to be used by the Latvian President’s Office was renovated during the first phase. The renovation of the first phase cost EUR 34.2 mln.

The second phase of the renovation will last from 2016 to 2018. The part of the castle which was used by the National Museum of History will be renovated during the second phase and, when it is completed, the museum will return to its traditional place in the Riga Castle.

The Riga Castle, originally built in 1330 and expanded and renovated on numerous occasions through centuries, badly needed renovation because the building was in an unsatisfactory condition and had developed cracks. The Latvian President’s Office moved out of the Riga Castle in September 2012, taking up temporary residence in the Blackheads House, a 1999 replica of the original medieval building that was built in Riga in the early 14th century but was destroyed during World War II.

While closed for renovation, the Riga Castle caught fire in June 2013 and it took 16 hours for the firefighters to put out the blaze that had started in the attic.