This is the moment French gendarme students in full ceremonial uniform perform a traditional Haka dance to pay tribute to one of their bosses.

The students were filmed performing the dance at the Gendarmerie School Of Montlucon in the Allier department in central France.

The viral images have notched up more than 2.4 million views and 170,000 likes on TikTok since being posted over the weekend.

The students were reportedly thanking one of their superiors.

But the dance was also a tribute to gendarmerie recruitment in French Polynesia.

French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity belonging to France made up of more than 100 islands in the South Pacific.

The images were obtained from the official spokesperson for the Gendarmerie Nationale, who said on social media: “Thanks to Raimanu and his fellow police students from Montlucon for this Haka in honour of their superior.”

The spokesperson also said that the footage was an “opportunity to highlight recruitment in Polynesia which makes the richness of the Gendarmerie.”

Haka are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Maori culture.

They are often performed to welcome distinguished guests or to pay tribute to great achievements.

The Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand.

They originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in waves of canoe trips between approximately 1320 and 1350 AD.