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Canberra Today 12°/15° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Ceremony to unveil a pole that encourages peace

The pole will be officially revealed during a ceremony from 11.30am-1pm on Harmony Day. Photo: Nathan Schmidt.

THE Rotary Club’s 100th peace pole will be unveiled at Lennox Gardens during Harmony Day on Sunday (March 21), a day that celebrates Australian multiculturalism. 

The pole, which has already been erected in Nara Peace Park, is located opposite the Rotary Peace Bell, and will be officially revealed during a ceremony from 11.30am-1pm.

The pole will compliment the Rotary Peace Bell, one of 26 peace bells located around the world, and the community is encouraged to come to the ceremony wearing orange, the Harmony Day colour, which has connotations of social communication, freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.

Inspired by the Warsaw World Peace Bell, where peace poles are also distributed, Canberra’s bell was inaugurated during Harmony Day celebrations in 2018, with its mission to “remind us that we want a peaceful world”. 

That same message is reflected on the peace poles, which are co-sponsored by the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum, the Rotary Club of Canberra and the Rotary Club of Lake Burley Griffin, and all bear the same message, albeit in different languages – “may peace prevail on earth”.  

Located in 100 places right across the nation, (250,000 peace poles internationally) Canberra already has two peace poles – one in Glebe Park, and the other, opposite Clare Holland Hospice on Lake Burley Griffin.

Around Australia coordinator of the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell, Michael Rabey, says the peace poles are in places such as a little town called Greenvale in northern Queensland.

“There’s also a number of them in Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Launceston,” he says. 

Each carries at least four languages and are intended to be a silent prayer of peace, he says.

As for the peace bell, Mr Rabey says there are 15 languages in total featured on the Canberra bell, including the eight languages approved to be taught in ACT schools, five additional languages, as well English and Ngunnawal.

“It includes New Zealand Maori, Polish, French and German, Vietnamese, Arabic,” he says.

Interestingly, Michael says, the Ngunnawal language didn’t have the words “may peace prevail on earth”. 

“So, we’ve included the words ‘dreaming strong on Ngunnawal land’,” he says.

Unveiling of the peace pole, Lennox Gardens Flynn Drive, Yarralumla, adjacent to the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell, from 11.30am, Sunday, March 21. 

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