Symbols

 

Each name is preceded (on the West Wall) or followed (on the East Wall) by a symbol designating status.

The diamond symbol denotes that the service member's death was confirmed.

Those whose names are designated by the cross symbol were in missing or prisoner status at the end of the war and remain missing and unaccounted for. In the event a serviceman's remains are returned or he is otherwise accounted for, the diamond symbol is superimposed over the cross.

If a man returns alive, a circle, as a symbol of life, will be inscribed around the cross. No such cases have occurred though some men have been found to be alive with their names on The Wall due to clerical errors. To put a circle around their names would not give a correct historical context to the symbols. These names are and have been removed from periodic revisions of the printed Directory of Names.

 

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