The Anthem Veterans Memorial is a monument located in

Anthem, Arizona Anthem is a master-planned community partially located within Phoenix and partially located within a census-designated place (CDP), New River. The community is entirely located in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, within the Phoenix Metr ...

which was dedicated in 2011 to honor the sacrifice and service made by members of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. The memorial's five white pillars represent the nation's military branches and are arranged in Department of Defense order of precedence: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Each pillar has an elliptical opening that slants downward toward the Great Seal of the United States. On

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than di ...

– November 11 – the design allows the sun's rays to spotlight the Great Seal at 11:11 am Mountain Standard Time. The design goal was 11:11:11 am, but the variations each year cause the precise alignment over the next 100 years to be between 11:10:58 and 11:11:22. Due to the leap years discrepancy between the official and astronomical calendar the effect can be observed at least one day before or after

as well. The award-winning monument is surrounded by 2200 red paving stones engraved with the names of veterans. The red stones, the white pillars and the blue Arizona sky represent the colors in the

flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rect ...

. Renee Palmer-Jones created the design for the memorial. The engineer for the memorial was James Martin.

Awards

Awards include: * Arizona Historic Landmark Designation 2012 – Arizona Historical Society * Arizona Public Works Project of the Year Award 2012 – Arizona Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) * ACEC 2012 Grand Award – Best Engineering and Environmental Consulting Project – American Consulting Engineers Companies

References

{{Coord, 33, 51, 47.93, N, 112, 8, 12.20, W, display=title Monuments and memorials in Arizona Buildings and structures in Maricopa County, Arizona Military monuments and memorials in the United States 2011 sculptures