Australian-American Memorial Eagle

Russell, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Landmarks and monuments

✓

Current

Checked by Project Big Things · Aug 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A monumental memorial column crowned by an 11-metre stylised eagle and sphere in Russell.

Check where to stop
No arrival point is cleared for direct navigation yet

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Arrival details not yet cleared

We have researched the approach, but no stopping point is cleared for direct navigation yet.

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Australian-American Memorial Eagle

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

35.29760° S, 149.15166° E

FIELD GUIDE

The story

The eagle had to be lifted onto the column at night, because they needed calm air.

The Australian-American Memorial stands about 79 metres above the ground at the apex of Kings Avenue in Canberra, and the stylised American eagle and sphere on top of it are eleven metres high on their own. It was built in 1953–54 to mark the sacrifices of Australian and American service personnel in the defence of Australia during the Second World War, and Queen Elizabeth II opened it on 16 February 1954. Canberra has called it The Eagle ever since.

Getting there took years. The search for a site ran from 1948 to 1951 and considered eight locations before this one – then bushland – was approved. An Australia-wide design competition was held in 1949, drawing thirty-two entries, and was won by Richard M. Ure with an octagonal aluminium column surmounted by an aluminium eagle.

The structure was fabricated in Sydney and driven to Canberra by road. Placing the eagle meant craning an eleven-metre aluminium sculpture onto the top of a seventy-nine-metre column, which is why it was done after dark when the wind dropped.

Money left over from the public appeal went to further memorials in Brisbane and Adelaide, so the campaign that funded this one paid for two more.

It stands in Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey Square – Blamey being the first Australian soldier appointed to that rank – and both the memorial and the square are open to the public.

It is a war memorial rather than a roadside curiosity, and it is one of the tallest sculptural objects in this collection.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

The National Capital Authority describes the memorial as approximately 79 metres above ground, topped by an 11 metre eagle-and-sphere sculpture, and confirms the memorial and Blamey Square are open to the public.

ACCESS

Public pedestrian memorial in Sir Thomas Blamey Square, Russell. Approach via the public precinct on foot; no attraction-specific vehicle destination is required.

COMMUNITY

Visitor Log

WHAT'S NEXT

Find another Big Thing nearby

✓

Current

Big Pears – National Gallery of Australia

Parkes, Australian Capital Territory

George Baldessin’s Pear – version number 2 comprises seven large steel pears in the National Gallery sculpture garden.

Public art

1.4 km away

TRANSPARENCY

Sources & research

Australian-American Memorial – National Capital Authority

National Capital Authority · recorded 2026-08-22

Authoritative NCA attraction record confirms monumental scale and public access.

Government

Australian-American Memorial – VisitCanberra

VisitCanberra · recorded 2026-08-22

Current official tourism listing.

Tourism

What we're still checking

Open-licence image search completed 24 August 2026. No defensible reusable image with file-level commercial-use provenance was verified in the completed Commons, government/open-licence and archival/open-collection sweep.

Something not right?

If this Big Thing has changed, moved or gone, telling us keeps the guide honest for the next traveller.

Suggest an update →Report a problem →