Military funerals are conducted with ceremonies that not only deepen the solemnity and impressiveness of the occasion, but also tie us to bygone days. One of the more noticeable features of military funerals is the custom of reversing the order of things. The soldiers in the procession accompanying the body to the place of burial carry their weapons reversed and the precedence of those who follow the coffin is also reversed.

This custom of reversing things is centuries old. It was carried out by the ancient Greeks for civil funerals as well as military. According to a contemporary report, the troops attending the funeral of an English nobleman in 1587 all stood “holding their weapons reversed.” The custom of marching with weapons held in the reverse manner is thought to have been first done at the funeral of the Duke of Marlborough, Winston Churchill’s ancestor, in 1722. Today, at Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country, the sight of a Canadian Forces member standing sentry at a war memorial with his weapon reversed and his head bowed is a common sight. To honour the Unknown Soldier, members of the Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stood vigil with their weapons reversed, while those accompanying the coffin to the National War Memorial carried their weapons reversed.