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The Crypt is some eight metres below the Sanctuary and measures nine metres square. It contains the Sovereign and Regimental colours and a series of bronze panels recording the army and navy units that took part in World War 1 and the names of Royal Australian Navy ships lost in the war.
Regimental Colours
Father and Son statue
Regimental Colours
 Colours and guidons were used in former times as rallying points in battle. With the advent of modern weapons this became impracticable but the custom has persisted and combat units generally have acquired colours and guidons which are emblazoned with battle honours and other distinguishing emblems. They represent the tradition and histories of the units and are of great cultural and historical significance.
Their use is now ceremonial only. They are always treated with the greatest respect when carried on parade and other occasions. When units acquire new colours or are disbanded, the ‘old’ colours are laid up with solemn ceremony in churches, cathedrals, public buildings or dedicated memorials such as the Shrine of Remembrance.
Until recently, colours and guidons on being laid up were allowed to deteriorate and with the passage of time had eventually to be disposed of. They were allowed ‘rot on the pike’. Therefore, the colours in the Crypt show varying degrees of deterioration. However, it has become customary in recent years to preserve the colours because of their cultural and historical value and the Trustees have gone to considerable lengths to ensure their preservation.
Thirty-three colours and one guidon are suspended on horizontal shafts from the walls of the Crypt. Of these, 28 colours and the one guidon represent units of the first Australian Imperial Force (AIF) which served in the Great War (1914-18).
Fourteen infantry battalions are represented by two colours each:
o a Regimental colour which is a silken green flag that carries the battle honours of the Great War (First World War) and
o a King’s colour which was presented by the sovereign to each infantry battalion for meritorious service that consists of a silken Union flag and which carries the battle honours of the corresponding World War 2 units.
Two colours - Royal (Queen’s) and Regimental - represent the 22nd Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment, which has inherited the traditions and honours of all Victorian infantry units.
The colours of the 22nd Battalion RVR - both Queen’s and Regimental - carry the Queen’s crown. The Royal or Queen’s colour is also distinctive in that it is a silken national flag as against the Union flag used in previous sovereigns’ colours.
The Melbourne University Rifles is also represented by two colours - King’s and Regimental.
Three King’s colours in the Crypt - 8th, 58th and 59th battalions - have no honours emblazoned on them but all of these units have colours in other parts of the State which carry the respective honours.
The 60th battalion has two regimental colours, one of which dates back prior to the Great War when it was the Brunswick-Carlton Regiment.
The one guidon in the Crypt represents the 4th Light Horse Regiment. This differs from colours in that it is smaller, being carried on a lance rather than a pike and the free border is swallow-tailed in shape. It is unique in having two colour patches, one worn by troopers in the desert campaigns and the other by troopers in France.
Four colours representing the 6th Infantry battalion, City of Melbourne Regiment, have been added to the Crypt, making a total of 37 colours and one guidon. Two of these are King’s colours and two are Regimental colours.
Father and Son statue
In the centre of the Crypt is a bronze statue of a father and son. The sculpture honours the courage and service of two succeeding generations of Victorians. The inscription on the statue reads:
THESE FIGURES OF FATHER AND SON HONOUR THE COURAGE AND SACRIFICE WHICH LINKS TWO GENERATIONS OF VICTORIAN SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED AND DIED IN THE WORLD WARS 1914-1918 AND 1939-1945
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