Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning.

The initial Armistice Day was observed at Buckingham Palace, commencing with King George V hosting a "Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic"[3] during the evening hours of 10 November 1919.

For military purposes, the traditional night vigil over the slain was not just to ensure they were indeed dead and not unconscious or in a coma, but also to guard them from being mutilated or despoiled by the enemy, or dragged off by scavengers.

The act is enhanced by the use of dedicated cenotaphs (literally Greek for "empty tomb") and the laying of wreaths—the traditional means of signalling high honours in ancient Greece and Rome.

Services are held at 11 am at war memorials and schools in suburbs and cities across the country, at which the "Last Post" is sounded by a bugler and a one-minute silence is observed.

While this occurs, the majority of passers-by stop and observe a moment of silence while waiting for the bugler to finish the recital.

It can acknowledge loss and suffering with a nod to the sacred, while simultaneously representing imagined distinct national values such as mateship, laconic humour and stoicism.

[14] The Governor-General and Barbadian Prime Minister are among those who attend, along with other government dignitaries and the heads of the police and military forces.

During the main ceremony a gun salute, wreaths, and prayers are also performed at the war memorial Cenotaph at the heart of Heroes' Square in Bridgetown.

In the British Overseas Territory and former Imperial fortress of Bermuda, which sent the first colonial volunteer unit to the Western Front in 1915, and which had more people per capita in uniform during the Second World War than any other part of the Empire, Remembrance Day is still an important holiday.

In addition to the ceremony held in the City of Hamilton on Remembrance Day itself, marching to the Cenotaph (a smaller replica of the one in London), where wreaths are laid and orations made, the Royal Navy and the Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps held a parade the same day at the HMS Jervis Bay memorial in Hamilton, and a smaller military parade is also held in St. George's on the nearest Sunday to Remembrance Day before the Royal Garrison Artillery memorial in the King's Square.

[31] It was later placed on a statutory footing in 1921, after the Parliament of Canada provided that Thanksgiving and Armistice Day would both be held on the Monday of the week in which 11 November fell.

These are presided over by the governor general of Canada (who acts as commander-in-chief in the monarch's name) and attended by the prime minister, other dignitaries, the Silver Cross mother, and public observers.

English and French languages were used throughout the ceremony because Ottawa is officially bilingual, and the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area is a mix of anglophones and francophones.

The arrival of the governor general is announced by a trumpeter sounding the "Alert", whereupon the viceroy is met by the dominion president of the RCL and escorted to a dais to receive the "Vice Regal Salute", after which the national anthem, "O Canada", is played and sung in English and French by the Ottawa Children's Choir, accompanied by the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces The moment of remembrance begins with the bugling of "Last Post", immediately before 11:00 am, when the 21-gun salute fires and the bells of the Peace Tower toll the hour.

A flypast of Royal Canadian Air Force craft then occurs, upon the completion of which a choir sings "In Flanders Fields".

[41] Similar ceremonies take place in provincial capitals across the country, officiated by the relevant lieutenant governor, as well as in other cities, towns, and even hotels or corporate headquarters.

The ceremony participants include veterans, current members of the Canadian forces, and sea, army, and air cadet units.

In 2013, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, marked the day in Mumbai's St. John the Evangelist Church.

Commemoration ceremonies are usually held on the nearest Sunday, at which the "Last Post" is played by a bugler followed by the observation of a two-minute silence.

Typically, poppy wreaths are laid by representatives of the Crown, the armed forces, and local civic leaders, as well as by local organisations including ex-servicemen organisations, cadet forces, the Scouts, Guides, Boys' Brigade, St John Ambulance and the Salvation Army.

[61] In 2014, the Royal Mint issued a colour-printed Alderney £5 coin, designed by engraver Laura Clancy, to commemorate Remembrance Day.

[63] On 5 November 2018 and set to continue for 4 months, about 10,000 torches were lit at the foot of the Tower's walls, in its dry moat to mark the centenary of the end of the World War I.

[64] Remembrance Day is officially observed in Northern Ireland in the same way as in the rest of United Kingdom, although it tends to be associated more with the unionist community.

In 1987 a bomb was detonated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) just before a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, killing eleven people.

The date is the anniversary of the Armistice of Villa Giusti, which effectively ended combat between the Allies of World War I and Austria-Hungary in 1918.

[83] The Republic of Ireland holds a National Day of Commemoration in July for Irish men and women who have died in war.

The national day is typically held close to the anniversary date of when the truce for the Irish War of Independence went into effect in 1921.

Major events include laying flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by members of the government and highest authorities, other public ceremonies and church services and school commemorations.

[97] The "Turn to Busan" remembrance ceremony has occurred at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery on 11 November annually since 2007.