Known unto God

The phrase engraved onto a CWGC gravestone
Use on a First World War gravestone for an unknown Australian lieutenant
Use on a Second World War grave marker for a soldier of unknown allegiance
Used on a variant headstone for geologically unstable areas
Use on a 1900 Second Boer War grave marker of an unknown British soldier, though the plaque is of a later date

Known unto God is a phrase used on the gravestones of unknown soldiers in Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries. The phrase was selected by British poet Rudyard Kipling who worked for what was then the Imperial War Graves Commission during the First World War. The origin of the phrase is unknown but it has been linked to sections of the King James Bible. The phrase was re-used for those killed during the Second World War and appears on more than 212,000 gravestones across the world. In 2013 there was controversy when it was proposed that the phrase be removed from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial.