Australian War Memorial Logo
Search
  • Online Shop Use this login for Shop items, and image, film, sound reproductions
    Cart  |  Log In
  • Collection Open Information Close Information
    • Official Histories & Unit Diaries
    • Understanding the Collection
    • Research at the Memorial
    • Donating to the Collection
    • National Collection Loans
    • Projects
  • People
  • Visit Open Information Close Information
    • Visitor Information
    • Exhibitions
    • Events
    • Schools
    • Memorial Development Project
    • Research Centre
  • Commemorate Open Information Close Information
    • Last Post Ceremony
    • Honour Rolls
    • Anzac Day
    • Remembrance Day
    • Customs & Ceremony
    • Speeches
  • Learn Open Information Close Information
    • Schools & Teachers
    • Memorial Articles
    • Encyclopedia
    • Understanding Military Structure
    • Podcasts
    • Glossary
    • Wartime Magazine
  • Get Involved Open Information Close Information
    • Donations & Bequests
    • Corporate Partnership
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Volunteer at the Memorial
    • Friends of the Memorial
    • eMemorial Newsletter
    • Grants, Scholarships & Residencies
      • Research Papers
  • Shop Open Information Close Information
    • Help and Information
    • Lone Pine Seedlings
    • Images, film and sound

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Visit
  3. Visitor Information
  4. Memorial Features
  5. Hall of Memory
  6. Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier

Main navigation

  • Visitor Information
    • Galleries
    • Highlights Audio Tour
    • Highlights Auslan Tour
    • Maps of the Memorial
    • Memorial Features
    • Memorial Theatre
    • Over the front
    • Poppy's Café
    • Rabaul and Montevideo Maru memorial
    • The Landing Place Café
    • Tours of the Memorial
    • Venue Hire
  • Exhibitions
  • Events
  • School Visits
  • Museum at home

Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier

Introduction
Artist
Dome
Mosaics
Pillars
Tomb

Plans to honour an unknown Australian soldier were first put forward in the 1920s, but it was not until 1993 that one was at last brought home. To mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the body of an unknown Australian soldier was recovered from Adelaide Cemetery near Villers-Bretonneaux in France and transported to Australia. After lying in state in King’s Hall in Old Parliament House, the Unknown Australian Soldier was interred in the Hall of Memory on 11 November 1993. He was buried in a Tasmanian blackwood coffin, on which were placed a bayonet and a sprig of wattle. Soil from the Pozières battlefield in France was scattered in his tomb.

Tomb of the unknown soldier, photo taken by Steve Burton

Architects Tonkin Zulaikha Harford, in collaboration with artist Janet Laurence, designed the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier and the Four pillars sculpture. The tomb lies directly beneath the dome, where the souls of the dead are shown ascending to heaven. The tomb is covered with a slab of red marble inscribed with gilded lettering, colours that subtly mirror those of the dome. The slab is set into a recess of black granite, suggesting the grave within the earth. A sloping marble border sets the tomb apart from the floor, marking a physical division between the living and the resting place of sacred sacrifice. The inscription on the tomb reads, “An unknown Australian soldier killed in the war of 1914–1918”. At the head of the tomb is inscribed “Known unto God” and at the foot, “He is all of them and he is one of us.”

Last updated: 23 October 2019

Cultural Message Modal

Explore the Collection

Explore the Collection

Our collection contains a wealth of material to help you research and find your connection with the wartime experiences of the brave men and women who served in Australia’s military forces.

Find out more
The Australian War Memorial at Night

Visit

The Australian War Memorial was voted the number one landmark in Australia by travellers in the 2016 Trip Advisor awards. Come and see why.

Find out more
The Donations and bequests

Donations & Bequests

Your generous donation will be used to ensure the memory of our Defence Forces and what they have done for us, and what they continue to do for our freedom remains – today and into the future.

Find out more
The placesofpride

Places of Pride

Places of Pride, the National Register of War Memorials, is a new initiative designed to record the locations and photographs of every publicly accessible memorial across Australia.

Find out more
Canberra Highlands in Grayscale

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF
TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS

The Australian War Memorial acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and waters. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
Location map of The Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial building

The Australian War Memorial

Treloar Crescent
Campbell ACT 2612
Australia
View on Google Maps (opens in new window)
Google Map data ©2021 Google
Australian War Memorial Logo
  • Go to AWM Facebook
  • Go to AWM Twitter
  • Go to AWM Trip Advisor
  • Go to AWM Instagram
  • Go to AWM Youtube

Footer

  • Memorial Articles
  • About
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Wartime Magazine
  • Donate Today

The Australian War Memorial

Treloar Crescent

Campbell ACT 2612

Australia

 

Opening Hours

10 am to 5 pm daily (except Christmas Day)

Get your ticket to visit: awm.gov.au/visit

 


Please enter a valid email address

Legal

  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Freedom of information

Copyright 2021 Australian War Memorial, Canberra. All rights reserved