A different kind of Anzac Day

This year's change in Anzac Day memorials won't be the first time in history that events have been carried out against tradition.

As the current coronavirus crisis prevents Australians from gathering at Anzac Day services across the nation, veterans’ organisations have urged Australian to ‘light up the dawn’ with a candle on their driveways.

This year, instead of having patriotic speeches read to them at a Dawn Service, many Australians will perhaps rather be able to think about the meaning of Anzac in their own terms, about the effects of war and those who did not return from it. They will be able to commemorate Anzac Day in their own way. Some may even choose not to think about it.

But we need to remember that Anzac Day has never been a static tradition; it has evolved through time and generations of Australians. Since the Gallipoli landing of April 1915, Anzac Day has been celebrated and commemorated in many different ways, including the years when it was mostly ignored by Australians in the late 1960s and early 1970s.