TENS of thousands of people headed through Warsaw on Saturday in a march organised by nationalist and far-right groups as Poland celebrated its Independence Day holiday, 105 years after the nation regained its statehood at the end of World War I.

Participants carried Poland’s white-and-red flag and some burned flares as they marched from the city centre to the national stadium.

While many patriotic events take place across the nation of 38 million, the yearly independence march has come to dominate news coverage because it has sometimes been marred by xenophobic slogans and violence.

This year's event was attended by some 40,000 and passed off peacefully, Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said.

Poland’s reactionary forces have seen their world view rejected by voters: they turned out in huge numbers in last month’s national election to end eight years of rule by the far-right Law & Justice party, with centrist and left-wing parties combining to deprive it of its majority.

The far-right Confederation party, which is ideologically linked to the Independence March, won just 18 seats in the 460-seat Sejm, the Polish parliament.

Meanwhile, Law & Justice, whose leaders have joined the march in the past, won most votes but fell short of a parliamentary majority.

Donald Tusk, the winning coalition’s candidate to be the next prime minister, appealed for national unity in a message on Twitter, stressing that the holiday is one that belongs to all Poles.

“If someone uses the word nation to divide and sow hatred, he is acting against the nation,” said Mr Tusk, who did not join the march.“Today our nation is celebrating independence. The whole nation, all of Poland.”

The march has in the past drawn far-right sympathisers from other European countries, including Hungary and Italy. Among those taking part this year was Paul Golding, the leader of Britain First.

Football supporters were prominent among the marchers, some holding banners with far-right slogans. One group brought EU and LGBT flags to stamp on, and a rainbow flag was torched.

However, many families also took part, and there were no arrests. Police removed climate protesters who placed themselves along the route of the march.