SBS translates Ode of Remembrance into 45 languages for Anzac Day

Translations and recordings of the Ode are now accessible online.

The Ode of Remembrance is recited at dawn ceremonies across Australia on Anzac Day. Source: AAP / Steven Saphore

Key Points

• The Ode has been translated and recorded for a multicultural audience.
• By reaching diverse audiences it is hoped this initiative can contribute to a more cohesive society.
• Among the 45 languages the Ode has been translated into are Arabic, Bangla, Croatian, Dari and Filipino.

For more than 100 years the Ode of Remembrance has been recited on Anzac Day and its words can be shared with even more Australians thanks to a new initiative.

The four lines, often spoken as part of Anzac Day dawn services across Australia on 25 April each year but also at Remembrance Day events on 11 November each year, commemorate those who made wartime sacrifices.

A collaboration between SBS Audio and the Australian War Memorial has translated and recorded the Ode of Remembrance in 45 languages in the lead up to Anzac Day 2023.

The Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon.

In English the words read: "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."

The sound of the Last Post played on the bugle and the reading of the Ode of Remembrance are synonymous with Anzac Day events in Australia. Source: AAP / Steven Saphore

Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson described the Ode of Remembrance as a key part of Anzac Day commemorations, "honouring the sacrifice of those forever lost to us".

He said the translations are an important step in recognising Australia's celebrated cultural diversity.

"As global citizens we remember all those who served and who have sacrificed," Mr Anderson said.

SBS Director of Audio and Language Content David Hua said by reaching diverse audiences, it's hoped the initiative can build understanding and inclusion and contribute to a more cohesive society.

"SBS aims to share more of Australia's history and what all Australians hold dear by re-expressing the Ode of Remembrance in 45 languages," he said.

LISTEN TO

English: The Ode of Remembrance

SBS Audio

17/04/202300:33

Play

Among the languages the Ode of Remembrance has been translated to are Arabic, Bangla, Croatian, Dari, Filipino, Italian, Khmer, Nepali, Russian, Serbian, Urdu and Vietnamese.

This is not the first time SBS has collaborated with other organisations to make significant national occasions accessible to all Australians.

In 2020, SBS re-expressed the Statement from the Heart into more than 80 languages together with the Uluru Dialogue and Indigenous Law Centre UNSW to open up the dialogue between Australia’s Indigenous people and multicultural communities.

Listen to the ode in your preferred language here.