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Canada Remembers
 The
Unknown Soldier
The unknown Canadian soldier was laid to rest on
the upper plaza of the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
His tomb, designed and made by the renowned
Canadian artist Mary-Ann Liu, consists of a three-tiered granite
sarcophagus with a bronze relief sculpture as a lid.
Facts
Location: upper plaza of the National War Memorial in Ottawa
Sarcophagus
Size: three-tiered, 3.6 metres long by 2.4 metres wide
Material: Dark Caledonia granite, quarried in Riviére à Pierre,
Quebec
Design: patterned after the stone altars of the Vimy Memorial with
the relief work in bronze. The dark granite complements the
paler-coloured stone used in the National War Memorial
Bronze Relief Sculpture
Casting: cast in Roberts Creek, B.C.
Design: includes key elements of the stone carving on the Vimy
altar; a medieval sword, a First World War-style helmet and branches
of maple and laurel leaves (symbolizing victory and death)
Bronze Corner Pieces
Design: three of the corners have large replicas of the Canadian
Memorial Cross. First instituted in 1919, the Cross is presented to
the family of those who gave their lives while serving Canada in war
or peacekeeping missions. Each cross is slightly different, having a
different Royal Cipher of the successive monarchs since its
inception. The fourth corner has a replica of a poppy representing
those who may fall in future conflicts.
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