The OIF GenerationA field guide to the Iraq War and the generation that fought it
Bases

The Crossed Swords: Baghdad's Victory Arch

The Hands of Victory over Ceremony Square, and the photograph nearly every Baghdad veteran has.

The crossed swords of the Victory Arch over the parade ground in Baghdad, September 8, 2004.
The crossed swords of the Victory Arch over the parade ground in Baghdad, September 8, 2004. Photo by aka4ajax, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Victory Arch, known to American troops as the Crossed Swords or the Hands of Victory, is a pair of monumental arches in central Baghdad. Each arch is a forearm and hand rising from the ground and gripping a sword; the two blades cross high above the road to form a gateway into a vast parade ground, Ceremony Square. The monument commemorates the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988.

A 2003 U.S. Air Force photo caption records the details soldiers heard on their first visits: the hands were modeled on Saddam Hussein's own, thousands of Iranian helmets taken from the battlefield were set around their bases, and the 24-ton blades were cast from the melted-down weapons of Iraqi soldiers killed in the war.

After April 2003 the arches stood inside the fortified International Zone, and they became one of the most photographed places of the war. Units posed beneath the swords before going home, commanders held promotions and re-enlistments there, and in 2004 Iraqi policemen guarded the site from a small booth at the base of one arm. On April 23, 2009, the 82nd Airborne Division held its largest re-enlistment ceremony of the year at the monument.

For many in the OIF generation, a photo under the Crossed Swords is the one picture from Baghdad that every veteran seems to have. If you have one, the message board is the place to tell the story behind it.

Photographs

A U.S. vehicle under the Crossed Swords, April 30, 2003.
A U.S. vehicle under the Crossed Swords, April 30, 2003. Photo courtesy of a veteran
The Crossed Swords, March 10, 2004.
The Crossed Swords, March 10, 2004. Photo courtesy of a veteran of the 1014th Quartermaster Company
An M1A1 Abrams and soldiers of Task Force 1-35 Armor, 1st Armored Division, under the Victory Arch in Ceremony Square, November 13, 2003.
An M1A1 Abrams and soldiers of Task Force 1-35 Armor, 1st Armored Division, under the Victory Arch in Ceremony Square, November 13, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. John L. Houghton Jr. (public domain)
Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division take the oath of enlistment at the crossed saber monument in the International Zone, April 23, 2009.
Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division take the oath of enlistment at the crossed saber monument in the International Zone, April 23, 2009. U.S. Army photo (public domain)
The Hands of Victory, Baghdad, April 2009.
The Hands of Victory, Baghdad, April 2009. Photo by rbc, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The base of one of the arms, with a caretaker's booth set up by the Iraqi policemen who guarded the monument, summer 2004.
The base of one of the arms, with a caretaker's booth set up by the Iraqi policemen who guarded the monument, summer 2004. Photo by NetSerfer (public domain)
The Hands of Victory on July 4, 2006.
The Hands of Victory on July 4, 2006. Photo by DocDuffy, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where it is

LocationCeremony Square, International Zone (Green Zone), central Baghdad
Also known asVictory Arch; Hands of Victory; the Crossed Swords
Coordinates33.30517, 44.38646 (33°18′18.6″N 44°23′11.3″E)
SourceWikipedia: Victory Arch

Ceremony Square, inside the former International Zone (Green Zone), Baghdad. It is also pinned in gold on the bases map. See the International Zone base page.

Message board: the Crossed Swords