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Post-war Commemorations

Permission to Use the Service Badge

All veterans who served in the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army or the Royal Australian Air Force are entitled to have their Service badge inscribed on their private memorial. Veterans who served in the Merchant Navy are entitled to a Merchant Navy badge.

However, for copyright reasons, permission to inscribe a badge must first be obtained from the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG).1

Required information

Before it can grant permission, OAWG needs to know the veteran's:

  • full name; and
  • Service number; and
  • Service (navy, army, air force, merchant navy). If not known, contact the Department of Defence to determine in which Service the veteran served. 

Processing is faster if the application contains also:

  • the veteran's rank and unit; and
  • a copy of the veteran's discharge certificate; or
  • a print out from the relevant online Nominal Roll.

See: the Department of Defence website

Apply

To apply for permission:

  • include the required information in a letter to OAWG; or
  • complete and return  Form D9081.

Mail, fax or email your letter or application form to:

Office of Australian War Graves,
PO Box 21
WODEN ACT 2606

Fax: 02 6289 6571
Email: wargraves@dva.gov.au

See: Form D9081

Permission

Once an application with all the required information is received, OAWG forwards a letter of permission via standard post.

Please note that all arrangements and costs associated with the provision of the private memorial are the responsibility of the veteran's next-of-kin or the Executor.

Other badges

Written requests for permission to use Australian badges or emblems other than those of the Navy, Army and Air Force, for example the badge of a particular Corps such as the Artillery, in any publication (including on a memorial) should be directed to the Department of Defence: 

Defence Community Organisation (DCO)
DGPERS-A
R8-9-026
Russell Offices
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Permission to use emblems of foreign services should be sought from the relevant Embassy or High Commission.

 

Footnotes
  1. Section 83 of the Defence Act 1903 (Cth) delegates authority to the Director of War Graves to approve the use of a Service emblem on privately erected memorials.

See further: Defence Act 1903 (Cth)