What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
Landsoldaten, also known as "The Valiant Private Soldier," is generally regarded as the first monument in Europe dedicated to an unidentified combatant. It was erected in 1858 in memory of the Danish victory over Schleswig-Holstein at Fredericia on July 6, 1849—part of the First Schleswig War.
An unidentified member of the British Armed Forces killed in the First World War was buried in Westminster Abbey, London, on November 11, 1920. It is the first example of a tomb of the Unknown Soldier, or Unknown Warrior.
On the same day, November 11, 1920, an unknown French combatant who had also fallen in the Great War was interred at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
On November 11, 1921, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Russia's war memorial dedicated to Soviet combatants killed in the Second World War is marked by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden in Moscow.
The Australian War Memorial in Canberra is the location of the nation's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which in fact was dedicated in 1993, on the 75th anniversary of the end of the First World War. An unidentified Australian combatant was recovered from a cemetery in France and reinterred to honor the country's fallen.
The remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier who died in France during the First World War is marked by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
Similarly, in 2004 the remains of an unidentified member of New Zealand's armed forces were exhumed from a cemetery in France and laid to rest in the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington, which is part of the country's National War Memorial.
A sculpture featuring a heroic soldier with a raised fist and rifle tops the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Tirana, the Albanian capital.
Belgium's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was installed in Brussels in 1922 at the foot of the landmark monumental Congress Column.
Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro is the location of the Monument to the Dead of World War II. The remains of those buried here were originally interred in a cemetery in Pistoia, Tuscany. One unidentified body was left in the Italian cemetery to honor his fellow servicemen, which today is marked by the Brazilian Monument and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of World War II.
Bulgaria's capital Sofia is where the country's Monument to the Unknown Soldier is found, set next to the 6th-century Saint Sofia Church.
Cairo's pyramid-shaped Tomb of the Unknown Soldier honors Egyptians and Arabs who lost their lives in the 1973 October War. The monument also serves as the Sadat Memorial, the tomb of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated in 1981.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Vake Park in central Tbilisi commemorates the hundreds of thousands of Georgian soldiers who served and died in the Red Army during the Second World War.
Located on Berlin's historic Unter den Linden boulevard, Neue Wache ("New Guard") is home to the Central Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny. The memorial is noted for Käthe Kollwitz's evocative statue, Mother with her Dead Son. The remains of an unknown soldier and of a nameless Nazi concentration camp victim are enshrined in the building.
One of the most visited tombs dedicated to an unknown combatant is that set on Syntagma Square in Athens. It's guarded by the Evzones of the Presidential Guard. The ceremonial Changing of the Guard, which takes place daily in front of the tomb, attracts large crowds of tourists.
Amar Jawan Jyoti, which translates into English as "Immortal Soldier Flame," is the name given to India's National War Memorial in New Delhi. At the base of the cenotaph is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, marked by a rifle placed on its barrel and capped by a helmet.
Italy honors its war dead with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Rome, set under the statue of the goddess Roma at the Victor Emmanuel II Monument.
Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo serves as a memorial for 352,297 unidentified war dead of the Second World War. A single Tomb of the Unknown Soldier exists for ceremonial purposes.
Centuries-old original Roman columns frame the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Beirut. The memorial commemorates Lebanese soldiers who served and died during the French Mandate of Lebanon from 1920 to 1943.
The sculptured Monument of the Unknown Sailor is of a deceased mariner about to be buried at sea. The monument is part of the Siege Bell War Memorial overlooking Valletta.
Poland's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located on Marshall Józef Piłsudski Square in Warsaw. It's constructed as the arcade of Saxon Palace, which was partially destroyed by the Germans in 1944.
The Portuguese Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located at the Chapterhouse in the Monastery of Batalha, in central Portugal. The 14th-century monastery in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dedicated to Romanian soldiers who died during the First World War, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest's Carol Park is found next to the communist mausoleum.
Serbia's grandiose Monument to the Unknown Hero summits Mount Avala, south-east of Belgrade. It's set on a place where an unknown Serbian First World War soldier was buried.
The Monument to the Unknown Sailor in the Ukrainian city of Odesa is set at the foot of an obelisk in Shevchenko Park. It's identified by an eternal flame.
Set in a quiet garden on Mustaqillik Maydoni (Independence Square) in Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, the country's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier commemorates Soviet troops killed in the Second World War.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is the central element of the National Heroes Acre in Harare. The memorial recognizes unidentified insurgents who lost their lives during Zimbabwe's liberation war.
Sources: (U.S. Department of Defense) (Australian War Memorial)
See also: Is a Third World War coming? The accurate predictions of Our Lady of Fatima explained
King George V places a wreath on the flag-draped coffin of an unidentified British soldier during a ceremony in London on November 11, 1920. This is the unknown combatant buried in the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Westminster Abbey, honoring the war dead of the British Empire.
Pictured: the procession carrying the body of the Unknown Soldier in Paris on November 11, 1920. This is the unidentified combatant who lies under the Arc de Triomphe.
A military ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknow Soldier in Arlington on November 11, 1922 to mark the first anniversary of its dedication. In 1931, a marble sarcophagus was placed on top of the tomb.
The idea of honoring the memories of all soldiers killed in conflict with a single tomb containing one unidentified combatant has its genesis in the First World War. On November 11, 1920, the first Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in London. Across the Channel on the same day, a second memorial was unveiled in Paris. The following year, the United States dedicated its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia. The idea of a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier then spread to other countries to remind us of the ultimate sacrifice made by others on the battlefield.
Do you want to pay your respects? Click through and honor the fallen, wherever you live.
The idea of honoring the memories of all soldiers killed in conflict with a single tomb containing one unidentified combatant has its genesis in the First World War. On November 11, 1920, the first Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in London. Across the Channel on the same day, a second memorial was unveiled in Paris. The following year, the United States dedicated its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia. The idea of a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier then spread to other countries to remind us of the ultimate sacrifice made by others on the battlefield.
Do you want to pay your respects? Click through and honor the fallen, wherever you live.
The tradition of the unknown soldier: a solemn tribute
How it began and where you can pay your respects today
LIFESTYLE History
The idea of honoring the memories of all soldiers killed in conflict with a single tomb containing one unidentified combatant has its genesis in the First World War. On November 11, 1920, the first Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in London. Across the Channel on the same day, a second memorial was unveiled in Paris. The following year, the United States dedicated its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia. The idea of a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier then spread to other countries to remind us of the ultimate sacrifice made by others on the battlefield.
Do you want to pay your respects? Click through and honor the fallen, wherever you live.