The Royal Australian Air Force Memorial is on Anzac Parade, the principal ceremonial and memorial avenue of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

was formed on 31 March 1921, being preceded by the Australian Flying Corps that saw service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. This memorial commemorates the 50th anniversary of the formation of the RAAF (initially as the Australian Air Force, the "Royal" prefix being added in August 1921), and the service of members of the RAAF. It was unveiled by

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

on 15 March 1973. The redeveloped memorial incorporated three

black granite In the construction industry, black rocks that share the hardness and strength of granitic rocks are known as black granite. In geological terms, black granite might be gabbro, diabase, basalt, diorite, norite, or anorthosite Anorthosite () i ...

walls and their images. It was dedicated in the presence of

Peter Hollingworth Peter John Hollingworth (born 10 April 1935) is an Australian retired Anglican bishop. Engaged in social work for several decades, he served as the archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane in Queensland for 11 years from 1989 and was the ...

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

;

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

, Prime Minister of Australia; and Air Marshal

Angus Houston Air Chief Marshal Sir Allan Grant "Angus" Houston, (born 9 June 1947) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force. He served as Chief of Air Force from 20 June 2001 and then as the Chief of the Defence Force from 4 July 20 ...

, Chief of Air Force.

Sculpture

The central sculpture was designed by

Inge King Ingeborg Viktoria "Inge" King (; 26 November 1915 – 23 April 2016) was a German-born Australian sculptor. She received many significant public commissions. Her work is held in public and private collections. Her best known work is ''Forward S ...

to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the RAAF, and was unveiled in 1973. It symbolises the ''aspirations'' and ''achievements'' of the RAAF; the three upturned wing shapes representing the ''endurance, strength and courage'' of RAAF people, while the bronze flight sculpture in the centre embodies man's struggle to conquer the elements. The RAAF

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

is inscribed on the base: PER ARDUA AD ASTRA : Through struggle to the stars. The three black

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

walls at the back were designed by

Robert Boynes Robert Boynes (born 1943) is a contemporary Australian artist working primarily in painting, but has also produced prints, films and sculptures. Early life and education Boynes was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1943. He grew up in ...

and were unveiled in 2002. The images and the words of the poem ''High Flight'' by

John Gillespie Magee Jr John Gillespie Magee Jr. (9 June 1922 – 11 December 1941) was a World War II Anglo-American Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and war poet, most noted for penning the sonnet " High Flight". He was killed in an accidental mid-air collis ...

symbolise ''service and sacrifice'' related to all RAAF personnel and particularly the more that 14,000 who have paid the supreme sacrifice. The list of RAAF

battle honours A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

are on the back faces of the two shorter walls.

Sculpture

See also