Victory Arch The Arc of Triumph ( " Qaws an - Naṣr " ) also called the " Swords of Qādisīyah " ، and " Hands of Victory " in some Western sources , are a pair of triumphal arch es in central Baghdad , Iraq . Each arch consists of a pair of hands holding crossed swords . The two arches mark the two entrances to Great Celebrations square and the parade - ground constructed to commemorate the Iran - Iraq war , led by then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein . The arches were opened to the public on August 8 , 1989 . It is one of Baghdad ' s sights and monuments and near to The Monument to the Unknown Soldier . Location . In 1986 ( two years before the war ' s end ) the government of Iraq began the construction of a festival and parade ground in Zawra Park , near the extensive presidential complex in the center of Baghdad . Known as " Grand Festivities Square " , it comprised a large parade ground , an extensive review pavilion , and the two arches . The official name of the arches , the " Swords of Qādisiyyah " , is an allusion to the historical Battle of al - Qādisiyyah . The site was home to the Museum of Gifts to the President and a performing arts center . The museum was located on the ground floor of the grand reviewing pavilion where Saddam was known to review the Republican Guard while firing a weapon in the air . The museum contained ordinary items donated by Iraqis during his rule . Items included cheap plastic ornaments and drawings donated by Iraqi children . The Grand Festivities Square also contained a large reflecting pool . The surrounding grassy areas hosted Iraqis during military parades . Adding to the festive appeal of the grounds were three refreshments booths that sold ice cream , cold beverages , and candy . < br > History . Iraq ' s leading sculptor , Adil Kamil , won the commission to design and execute the construction of the arches , which were based on a concept sketch made by president Saddam Hussein . The design consists of a pair of massive hands emerging from the ground , each holding a 140 foot ( 43 m ) long sword . A small flagpole rises from the point where the swords meet , at a point about above the ground . Kamil used photographs and plaster casts of Saddam ' s forearms to model for the design of the hands . When Kamil died in 1987 , with the monument incomplete , his position was assumed by fellow artist Mohammed Ghani Hikmat . Ghani personally took an impression of one of Saddam ' s thumbs , and the resulting fingerprint was added to the mold for one of the arches ' thumbs . The arches were made by an international consortium led by the German foundry H + H Metallform . The blades of the stainless steel swords weigh 24 Short ton each . Cast in Iraq , they are partly composed of metal from guns and tanks of Iraqi soldiers killed in the Iran - Iraq war . The hands and arms of the monument are cast in bronze , cast in the United Kingdom at the Morris Singer Foundry . The arms rest on concrete plinth s , the form of which make the arms appear to burst up out of the ground . Each plinth holds 2 , 500 helmet s which , Saddam claimed , belonged to Iranian soldiers killed during the war ; they are held in nets which spill them onto the ground beneath . On the day the monument was dedicated in 1990 , Saddam rode under the arches astride a white horse . It has been suggested that this was an allusion to the slain Shiite martyr Hussein , killed in Karbala in AD 680 , whose death caused the rift between Shiite and Sunni Muslims . Samir al - Kalil ' s book " Monument : Art , Vulgarity , and Responsibility in Iraq " describes the Arc of Triumph and Saddam ' s programme of producing lavish monuments celebrating his reign . The monument was not destroyed during the 1991 Persian Gulf War , though General Norman Schwarzkopf wanted to . The arches remain standing in what is now the International Zone of Baghdad . The hands are hollow , and many troops and other coalition visitors have climbed up inside them to look out from the point at which the swords meet the hands , generally to have souvenir pictures taken . Planned demolition . In February 2007 , it was reported that the new Iraqi government had organized the Committee for Removing Symbols of the Saddam Era and that the Arc of Triumph monument had begun to be dismantled , which drew protests from Iraqi and preservationist groups . The demolition began on Tuesday , February 20 , 2007 . At that time , chunks had been cut out of the bronze monument . Numerous Iraqi bystanders and coalition troops were seen taking helmets and bits of the monument away as souvenirs . The decision to remove the monument , made by Prime Minister Nouri al - Maliki , was challenged by U . S . Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad , who blocked the demolition on February 21 . The government of Iraq reversed its earlier plans to demolish the monument . Restoration . In February 2011 , Iraqi authorities began the restoration of the monument as a sign of reconciliation .