National Commemoration and memories of glorious past of a givenrnnation have played significant role in shaping national identity in manyrnparts of the world. In Africa, where colonialism resulted in the formation ofrnnew states, each of the newly born countries tried to build a distinct nationalrnidentity in order to prevent disintegration. This was made possible partly byrnretaining a collective past that would epitomize the unity of a given people.rn123rnAs opposed to many of the African countries, Ethiopia is not a creationrnof Europeans. The country has existed over a long period in spite of repeatedrninvasions from external powers. The Victory of Adwa, which rescued therncountry from European colonialism, among many wars the country fought,rnwas fought by almost all the peoples of Ethiopia. This unique Victory hasrnbeen, therefore, the most celebrated and glorified part of the history of therncountry.rnThis resounding Victory acquired a strong religious interpretationrnespecial from the early times up to the Revolution. Emperor Menelik beganrnthe celebration of the Victory Day to pay homage to Saint George who wasrnconsidered to have assisted the Ethiopians at the Battle of Adwa.rnNevertheless, political implications of the celebration were also conspicuousrnwhen the magnificent parade was displayed before foreign representatives,rnwhich Emperor Menelik used it as a forum to display the military potential ofrnhis country to neighbouring colonialist countries.rnThe commemoration and memories of Adwa fostered strong sense ofrnpatriotism and heroism at times the country encountered invasion fromrnexternal forces throughout the twenty century. The memory people had,rnregarding the Victory of Adwa, was instrumental on the eve of the Italianrninvasion and during the resistance war in arousing many people to fightrnagainst the Italians.rnAdwaâ€™s memories were also employed to reconstruct the symbols of thernstate in the aftermath of the liberation. The Emperor, by renovating thernstatue of Emperor Menelik II, put himself in the line of national contunityrn124rnand declared symbolically the defeat of the Italians. Emperor Hailesselasiernalso employed to strengthen his throne by overplaying the role of his father.rnDuring the regime of the Emperor, the fame of his father, Ras Makonnin,rnwas glorified as a man who brought Victory to Ethiopia at the Battle of Adwa.rnNevertheless, with the passage of time the Emperor subtly avoided praisingrnAdwa and its memories to evade the contempt that could have come to hisrnregime by praising Adwa.rnThe new ideology introduced by the Darg, resulted in a total departurernin the commemoration and the meanings given to the Victory of Adwa. Therndivorce of the state and religion had a direct ramification in this regard. Thernreligious symbolism of the Victory was abandoned (at least from the staternpoint of view) and secular interpretations of the Victory were given andrnoverplayed. The commemorations of Adwa Day began to take place out sidernthe Cathedral of St. George, at Menelik II Square and Revolution Square.rnThe Darg , by colorfully celebrating the Victory of Adwa and byrnactivating and reinvigorating the memory of the Victory, tried to underminernthe old regime, got its ideology and policy delivered and mobilized the peoplernagainst the tide of external invasion and internal oppositions.rnWith the demise of the Darg, the political philosophy of the rulingrnregime brought about change in the commemoration as well as in therninterpretations of the Victory of Adwa. EPRDF did not seem to take notice ofrnthe values of national symbols like the Victory Day of Adwa. In the first threernor four years, after it took power narratives of the Victory were not publishedrnin the newspapers and its memories were not told in the government media.rn125rnMoreover, unlike the earlier regimes, when the commemoration was presidedrnover by higher officials, the top leaders of the EPRDF showed theirrnambivalence by not presiding over the celebrations.rnThe Centenary celebrations in particular showed vividly thernambivalence of the government. The government handed over thernresponsibility of celebrating the Grand National Centenary to a third partyrnand allotted a very insignificant amount of money to its celebrations. Thernopposition, on the other hand, took an extreme stand rejecting thernCentenary celebrations at Adwa where Ethiopians got the resounding victoryrnin 1896. The controversy between the government and the opposition madernthe Centenary celebrations highly politicized.rnIt is understood from the discussion of the theisis that the meaningsrnand commemorations of the Victory of Adwa were maneuvered in line withrnthe political philosophy of each of these governments. The memories andrncommemoration were revived and reinvigorated at times when the unity ofrnthe country was challenged, became dormant when peace and order wasrnestablished and were vulnerable to manipulation for a destined politicalrnobjective. In spite of this, however, Adwa was a useful past that the threernregimes invariably used to mobilize the Ethiopian people against enemiesrnand to inculcate their policies