Our 45th Birthday: Commemoration

To commemorate the upcoming opening of the museum 45 years (+ 1 day) ago, a series of 2000 limited edition white ceramic plates where produced by Crown Lynn potteries. The image of the museum in the centre of the plate is an artist’s impression of what the museum building would look like when it was first opened. Printed around the edge of the plate are the 18 regimental corps badges of the New Zealand Army at the time. They are depicted in order of corps traditional seniority, with the crest of the Royal New Zealand Artillery at the top and moving clockwise around the plate.

 

The first plate produced was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of the museum which bears her name (our official title is the QEII Army Memorial Museum). Queen Elizabeth II later decided that the plate should be held by the museum and was returned to us where it was been held ever since.

 

Now, 45 years after it first opened, the museum has grown and changed significantly from the image on the front of this plate, but continues to be a place where the history and traditions of the New Zealand Army are cared for and remembered for the people of New Zealand.