Rowan Light, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
A national day for commemoration of the New Zealand Wars has struggled for attention and public engagement. So did Anzac Day once, and its survival can provide useful lessons.
The North Carolina memorial stands in Gettysburg National Military Park on Aug. 10, 2020.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
How should opposing armies be commemorated on a battlefield? Gettysburg offers an especially interesting example of today’s debates over Confederate monuments.
A 1945 photograph of detainees at the Honouliuli Internment Camp.
courtesy of National Park Service
When US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, he paved the way for the incarceration of Japanese Americans on the mainland and Hawaii
Soviet-era monument in Riga, Latvia, which was splashed with the colours of the Ukraine flag the day after Russia invaded in February 2022.
Kārlis Dambrāns/ Flickr.
Many countries revere soldiers who have given their lives for their country. What is special about Ukraine’s memorialising is the depth of respect for individual citizens.
Avenues of Honour were planted to remind us of the sacrifice and suffering of our servicemen and women. But as the years wore on, many declined or disappeared.
The 40-foot Peace Cross in Maryland dedicated to World War I soldiers.
Maryland GovPics/Flickr
An expert explains why war memorials with religious symbols can have different meanings in a diverse society.
This large ‘Do Not Forget Australia’ sign in a yard at the Victoria school in Villers-Bretonneux, is the heir of smaller signs once placed in classrooms by Australian authorities.
Author provided
Since the end of the first world war, the Australian media has often reported that ‘the French’ care about, remember and even venerate the Anzacs. But is this true? And which French people?
The 40-foot Peace Cross dedicated to World War I soldiers.
AP Photo/Kevin Wolf
A case regarding the constitutional validity of a cross shaped war memorial, is pending before the Supreme Court. An expert explains why these symbols have different meanings.
Memorial bench at the University of Saskatchewan.
Bill Waiser
On the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the University of Saskatchewan will be dedicating a memorial bench on the university campus.
Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia, Bulgaria, painted overnight on February 24 2014 by unknown activists in solidarity with anti-Russian protests in Ukraine.
Wikimedia Commons
Many of our public commemorations honour people and incidents that brought great harm to others. We need to look at what that says about us, and how we build more inclusive public memorials.
Robert E Lee Monument at Lee Circle, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Paulscrawl
Memorials to confederate generals are lightning rods today for the same racist views they fought for 150 years ago.
Jose Louis Morales sits and prays under his brother Edward Sotomayor Jr.’s cross for victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Richard Lachmann, University at Albany, State University of New York
Are Americans at increasing risk of being killed in a terrorist attack? A sociologist explains how the way we remember the dead may make it feel that way.
The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany.
Shutterstock