Anzac Day – Sustaining a National Myth

In towns and cities all around Aotearoa New Zealand, Anzac Day is commemorated on 25 April. The numbers attending continue to grow, with people of all ages gathering—many with little or no family connection to those who fell in conflict. Lt-Colonel Ian Hutson reflects on nation-building myths.

The size of the response and the almost sacred atmosphere that permeates these commemorations point to something deeply spiritual taking place.

The chosen date focuses heavily on the landing of troops on Suvla Bay as part of the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula, with the wider First World War—and later the Second—providing the backdrop. In his book National Memory Myth, Steve Vizard explores the reverence surrounding Anzac Day, writing from an Australian perspective but offering insights that help us understand why this day unites our own nation too. He suggests that many facets of our ideas around Anzac Day fit the description of a national myth.

Some might protest, worrying that calling Anzac a ‘myth’ diminishes its truth. After all, Gallipoli was a real place, a real battle, a real loss. Yet in the Western imagination ‘myth’ is often misunderstood. Myths are not falsehoods—they are stories we tell to make sense of who we are. Historians may rightly challenge inaccuracies sometimes repeated in Anzac commemorations, such as:

• The ANZACs landing on the wrong beach under a hail of gunfire— the truth is that they landed on the correct beach, lightly defended with no machine guns and only a single company of Ottoman soldiers.
• The idea that ANZAC soldiers were inherently superior warriors—the ‘natural soldier’ is now understood as a romanticised stereotype.
• Belief that British commanders alone bungled the campaign—when in fact ANZAC generals shared responsibility for strategic errors.
• The assumption that Gallipoli was primarily an ANZAC battle—it was a vast international campaign involving British, French, Indian and Pacific troops, with ANZACs making up roughly 12 percent.

As a blend of history and myth, Vizard sees the Anzac story as a foundation myth—a cultural narrative that shapes our shared identity. This is as true for New Zealand as for Australia. National myths help explain where we have come from, articulate our hopes and aspirations and give voice to the values we believe matter. They provide shared meaning and nurture belonging, binding citizen and nation together both logically and emotionally.

The Anzac story communicates enduring ideas of who we are as New Zealanders, what we value, and how we hope to behave. We hear this captured in the phrase ‘the Anzac spirit’. Its qualities might include:

• Loyalty and perseverance, a willingness to have a go.
• Fidelity, trustworthiness and generosity.
• Egalitarianism, democracy and self-reliance.
• Sacrifice, courage and tenacity of purpose.

There are clear echoes here of Christ’s own sacrificial love—reflected every Easter—and Anzac services often draw on this connection. On Anzac Day many of these values are not simply remembered but held up as aspirations for shaping a better shared future.

Of course, national stories evolve. For some New Zealanders the traditional narrative of Anzac mateship—overwhelmingly male and Pākehā—did not always offer a place to stand. Yet our national story has expanded. Increasing emphasis is placed on the contribution of women in wartime, and on units such as the Pioneer Battalion in WWI and the Māori Battalion in WWII. In doing so, our understanding of courage, service and belonging grows richer and more inclusive.

Anzac Day calls us not only to honour those who gave their lives but also to commit ourselves to peace—especially in a world where conflict feels ever closer and division seems to grow both between and within nations. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand we face challenges of poverty, homelessness, inequality and polarisation. Yet the very values we commemorate—sacrifice, generosity, loyalty and egalitarianism—offer a hopeful pathway forward.

If we embody the best of the Anzac spirit, we can strengthen the social cohesion that allows families to thrive, communities to flourish and every person—whatever creed, gender, ethnicity or social position—to feel truly at home.

As Paul writes: ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28).