What does Australia do on ANZAC day?

Answer 1

ANZAC Day is a time of solemn commemoration for those who choose to observe it. However, for many people, ANZAC Day is merely another public holiday.

Different groups of people in Australia commemorate ANZAC Day in slightly different ways, but there are some common themes:

• singing of either, or sometimes both of the Australian and New Zealand National Anthems (Advance Australia Fair and God Defend New Zealand)
• prayer for the Queens and the Commonwealth, for the Nation and a prayer for peace
• incorporation of the symbols of ANZAC, e.g. Medals; Reverse Arms; Catafalque; Rosemary; Poppy/ Poziéres
• reading of the poems "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon and "In Flanders' Fields" by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
• Those gathered for the service repeat the last line of the final verse of "For the Fallen":

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

• A catafalque guard of honour around the war memorial, provided by Uniformed service personnel
• sometimes singing of war songs such as It's a Long Way to Tipperary and Pack Up Your Troubles
• singing of hymns that remember the dead, such as "Abide With Me" and "Eternal father Strong to Save" (the latter being a mariners' hymn)
• laying of the ANZAC wreaths
• bugle renditions of The Last Post and Reveille
• One minute's silence