Ici repose un soldat français, mort pour la patrie, 1914–1918
Tomb of the unknown soldier lies under the Arc de triomphe
ICI REPOSE UN SOLDAT FRANÇAIS, MORT POUR LA PATRIE 1914 – 1918
On 11 November 1920, a French soldier who died on the battlefield in WW1 was carried from Verdun to Paris, first to the Pantheon and then to the chapel in the Arc de Triomphe at the western end of the Champs Élysées. His name, origin and place of death are unknown. His coffin was laid in its final place of rest, under the Arc de Triomphe, on 28 January 1921.
On 11 November 1923 André Maginot, the Minister for War, lit the eternal flame for the first time. The flame is relit each evening.
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