Standing over the rooftops of Paris, blending in with every dimension and period of the city’s construction, the Eiffel Tower has always been considered a lighthouse with festive qualities.

1889 : For the evening of the Tower’s inauguration, 10,000 gas street lamps accented the steeple and platforms. Two projectors on the Tower top lit up the other Parisian monuments below. These blue-white-red beacon lights were considered the most powerful in the world.

1900 : Electricity arrives. 3,200 lamps spotlight the framework and decorative arches of the Tower.

1907 : A giant clock six meters tall is installed on the second floor giving time in illuminated numbers.

1925-1936 : It was André Citroën who brought the first decorative lighting display to the Tower, composed of 250,000 colored lamps. As an ad campaign, the name Citroën sculpted in lights adorned three sides of the Tower, visible 30 kilometers away.

1933 : A 15-meter clock in diameter (offered by Citroën) tells time with light-beam minute hands.

1937 : For the Art and Technique Exhibition, an enormous chandelier containing 10 kilometers of fluorescent tubes was installed on the first floor. Thirty naval spotlights point in air so as to wrap the Tower in white light, while the Tower’s lattice work takes on gold, blue and red reflects.

1958 : 1,290 spots are installed on the grounds of the Champ de Mars so as to light up the Tower from below.

1978 - Christmas : The Tower becomes a Christmas tree with the arrangement of 30,000 lamps installed on the monument.

1985 - New Year’s Eve : Inauguration of the new lighting system, the final phase of a comprehensive restoration program, initiated by the city of Paris in 1980. It was to become the permanent gold-toned lighting system still in place today. This golden light is comprised of 350 high pressure sodium bulbs.

1997 - April 5 : The 1,000 days to the new millennium countdown display is placed on the facade of the second floor facing Trocadero.

2000 - New Year’s Day : The Eiffel Tower is adorned in its festive lighting composed of 20,000 spots and a beacon projector on the Tower top.

2001 - New Year’s Day : For the New Year, the sparkling lights take on blue sapphire tones thanks to the blue filters fitted over the lamps.

2001 - July 14 : The glittering light system is dismantled.

2003 - June 21 : The Eiffel Tower is once again covered in diamond-sparkling lights that are displayed every hour on the hour for five minutes, from dusk until 2 am (1 am in winter).

2004 - January 24-29 : The Eiffel Tower Adopts Red for the Chinese New Year Celebration!

2006 - 9 May : The Tower Turns Blue for the 20th Anniversary of Europe Day

2007 - 7 September to 20 October : Rugby is Honoured, for the occasion of the World Rugby Cup hosted by France, the Eiffel Tower adopted the colours of rugby

2008 - 30 June to 31 December : The Eiffel Tower in the Colors of Europe

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