An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which can be initially ignited by lightning, piezoelectricity or human activity, some of which have burned for hundreds or thousands of years.
Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin eternal flame memorializing losses during World War II .
A chancel lamp hangs above the altar of St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church
Prismatically broken eternal flame at World War II memorial in East Berlin
Eternal Flame in Sarajevo
Atar, Atash, Azar or Dāštāɣni, is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire". It is considered to be the visible presence of Ahura Mazda and his Asha through the eponymous Yazata. The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year.
Iranian Fire God Adur (Atar) on a coin of the Turk Shahi king Tegin Shah, 728 CE
Atsho (Atar) on the reverse of a coin of Kushan ruler Huvishka (150-180 CE).
A Parsi-Zoroastrian Jashan ceremony (here the blessing of a home in Pune, India)
Silver coin of Ardashir I with a fire altar on its reverse (180 – 242 AD).