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The American flag was raised at the recently restored US embassy in Havana, Cuba, for the first time in 54 years on Friday, a symbolic step in the thawing of relations between two Cold War-era foes.

The historic ceremony, attended by Secretary of State John Kerry, came nearly four weeks after the United States and Cuba formally renewed diplomatic relations and upgraded their diplomatic missions to embassies. 

Marines raised the American flag at the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba, on Friday, the first time the banner has flown at the building since 1961.

The flag raising followed the reopening of the Cuban Embassy in Washington last month.

The three Marines who brought down the flag 54 years ago were unsure if they would ever return to the island where they were stationed. Above, they hold the US flag at Friday's ceremony.

Three Marines who brought the flag down for the last time 54 years ago, (from left) Mike East, Jim Tracy and Larry Morris, were present at the ceremony and handed a flag over to be raised.

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at the flag raising and praised the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, but said that 'the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy'.

Three Marines currently stationed in Cuba raised the American flag at the Embassy after a speech by Kerry.

The US has kept a special interest section in Cuba since 1977, though the reestablishment of relations has turned it to an embassy.

The push for diplomatic relations began in 2013 and was brokered by Pope Francis and the Vatican. Above, crowds gather on the Havana streets (left) and a man uses binoculars to look out at the ceremony.

Thousands of Cubans reportedly gathered outside the ceremony in Havana, carrying both American and Cuban flags for the occasion.

The flag raising and reopening of embassies follows a warming in relations between the US and Cuba announced last year that has included fewer travel restrictions on Americans going to the island.

A Cuban woman holds up an American flag during the ceremony.

Kerry expressed hope during his speeches that the reestablishment of relations would allow US diplomats more direct contact with the Cuban people.

Kerry looks into a classic American car in the Old Havana neighborhood of Cuba's capital.

Kerry looks at cigar humidors with historian Eusebio Leal in Old Havana.

Kerry visits a statue of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a planter who freed his slaves in the 19th century.

Kerry said that despite ideological differences with Cuba, the United States sees possibilities of work in areas such as human trafficking and environmental protection.

Kerry was the first Secretary of State to visit Cuba since World War II. Above, he meets with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Friday.

Above, Castro is shown on on his 89th birthday, with Bolivian President Evo Morales (C) and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Havana.

Officials on both sides have said that there is more work to do in normalizing relations, though the US lifting its embargo on Cuba can only be done by Congress. Above, the Embassy on Friday.

Cubans came out in the thousands to watch the ceremony on Friday.