"Lest We Forget"

"Lest We Forget"

"Lest We Forget" is the name of a black-and-white photograph featured on the rearmost wall of Galactica's ready room, and on the wall of Laura Roslin's office on Colonial One.

Display and Distribution

The photo was apparently quickly reproduced and displayed during the long pursuit of the new Fleet by Cylon forces after the Colonial escape from Ragnar Anchorage. The image appears in both locations by the time of the episode "33", suggesting rapid dissemination throughout the Fleet as a symbol of remembrance and resistance.

Content and Symbolism

The photo shows a Colonial soldier on his knees on Aerilon, perhaps injured or stunned, as a city burns from the Cylon nuclear bombing of the colony. Before going out on their missions, some of the crew touch the photo, presumably for good luck or as a form of spiritual remembrance ^(TRS: "33").

William Adama himself touches the photo as he enters the pilot's ready room following the communication drone incident that kills 13 pilots ^{(TRS: "Act of Contrition")}.

Real-World Inspiration

The photograph was directly inspired by the iconic image of firefighters raising the American flag at the World Trade Center site in New York City following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This inspiration reflects the broader influence of 9/11 on the Re-imagined Series, which extensively drew from the emotional and cultural impact of those events to inform its storytelling approach.

The image serves a similar function to the 9/11 firefighter photograph in the real world—providing a single, powerful visual representation of tragedy, loss, and resilience that becomes a cultural touchstone for an entire civilization.

Production Details

Creation and Development

Ronald D. Moore explains the origin of the "Lest We Forget" photo:

"There was a scene cut from "33" where we saw Laura being given her copy of the photo along with a card that said it was taken on the roof of the capitol building on Aerilon during the attack. The photo was inspired by the famous shot of the fire-fighters raising the flag at Ground Zero that became iconic. I thought the Colonies would have their own version of this—a snapshot taken in the moment that becomes a symbol of the day they can never forget and of all they had lost."

"The photo itself is of a soldier falling to his knees (possibly shot or simply overcome by emotion) as he stands on the rooftop over looking the devastation of his city, while the Colonial flag waves at the edge of frame. The inscription below the photo on Laura's plaque reads, 'Lest We Forget' in itself a reference to the inscription on the watch presented to John Wayne's character in 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.'"

—From RDM's Sci-Fi Channel Blog

Behind the Scenes

This photo, referred to as the "unknown soldier" photo by the production, features production manager and Battlestar director Wayne Rose kneeling on the helicopter pad at the Vancouver Film Studios, where the series was filmed from Season 1 and onward.

Cross-Series Connections

A similar reference to 9/11 is found with the often-featured memorial hallway, which was also inspired by the makeshift memorials created in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Both the photograph and the memorial hallway demonstrate the series' consistent approach to drawing from real-world tragedy to inform its fictional narrative.