The design for a paving stone to commemorate World War 1 heroes in their home towns was unveiled yesterday by Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles.
Stones all over the country will enshrine the names of 430 Britons who were awarded the Victoria Cross during the war.
The design by architect Charlie MacKeith, 50, was the winner in a nationwide competition which attracted 201 entries from adults and children.
Irfhan Ahmed, 18, from Walsall, and Kiara Hines, 11, of Sale, Cheshire, won best design awards for secondary school students and primary students respectively.
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for military valour and is given for bravery “in the face of the enemy”.
Mr Pickles said: “The winning paving stone is a fitting tribute to the centenary of the war and will keep the memory of local war heroes alive for hundreds more years to come.
“The most remarkable thing about these folks is that they came back. They built families, they built happiness, they built a life, only to see their own children go off to war a few decades later.”
The stones will also include a QR code or digital sign to let smartphone users find out more about the person they commemorate.
Mr Pickles was joined at the Army and Navy Club in London by Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry.
He became the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross since 1965 after twice saving his crew from ambushes near Al-Amarah in Iraq. Lance Sergeant Beharry exposed his head through the hatch of his damaged Warrior armoured vehicle to drive it through the attack before pulling his comrades out of it under enemy fire.
A month later he drove through another ambush despite being gravely wounded by a rocket which exploded six inches from his head.
Mr MacKeith called the use of his design a “fantastic privilege”.
He said: “It is humbling to think that the making and laying of this design will continue until 100 years after the last selfless, heroic act in conflict.”
A total of 363 Victoria Crosses were awarded to people born in England and eight to those in what is now Northern Ireland, with a further 44 going to Scottish recipients and 15 to Welsh.
Mr Pickles pointed to Captain John Fitzhardinge Butler of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, who received the Cross in 1915 for “most conspicuous bravery”, and Lieutenant Colonel Walter Lorrain Brodie, of Edinburgh.
Capt Butler led 13 men in Cameroon on November 17, 1914, capturing a machinegun.
Lt Col Brodie led a charge to recapture a British trench near Becelaere in Belgium, bayoneting several enemy soldiers and leading to the capture of 51 prisoners.
Mr Pickles said: “This generation can no longer hear the stories of Capt Butler and Lt Col Brodie first hand. We have a responsibility to continue to inspire. These paving stones are just one way.”