Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (France)
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Tombe du Soldat inconnu) in France
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris honors all French soldiers who died for the country, especially those from World War I. It sits under the Arc de Triomphe and was unveiled on 11 November 1920.
The grave holds one unidentified French soldier from World War I. The granite slab bears the inscription: “Ici repose un soldat français mort pour la Patrie, 1914–1918” (“Here rests a French soldier who died for the Fatherland, 1914–1918”).
From eight unidentified bodies found in different battle regions, one was chosen to be buried in Paris. On 8 November 1920, Auguste Thin, a 21-year-old private, picked the coffin from Verdun. The coffin traveled to Paris and, after a ceremony on Armistice Day, was buried under the Arc de Triomphe on 28 January 1921. The other seven unknown soldiers remain buried in Verdun, near the battlefields.
An eternal flame was added to the tomb in 1923 and has been rekindled every day at 6:30 pm since then, by veterans’ groups. After World War II, a bronze shield with a flaming sword was placed at the foot of the tomb to honor the Allied aid and the liberation of Paris.
The Tomb is permanently guarded by a unit of the National Police. The idea of a tomb for unknown soldiers spread to other countries, including the United States at Arlington National Cemetery (1921).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 02:33 (CET).