Commonwealth Day

History

Clementina Trenholme introduced Empire Day in Canadian schools, first in Dundas, Ontario in 1898, on the last school day before 24 May, Queen Victoria's birthday. It was celebrated more widely throughout Canada each year. A typical Empire Day in Canadian schools occupied the entire day and included inspirational speeches by trustees and songs such as "The Maple Leaf Forever" and "Just Before the Battle".

Empire Day was promoted to be 24 May (prior to 1901 celebrated as the Queen's Birthday) by the League of the Empire and instituted in the United Kingdom in 1904 by Lord Meath, and extended throughout the countries of the Commonwealth. This day was celebrated by lighting fireworks in back gardens or attending community bonfires. It gave the King's people a chance to show their pride in being part of the British Empire.

The Queen's Birthday was celebrated in the Cape Colony before the Boer War and thereafter throughout the Union of South Africa. General Jan Smuts was born on the Queen's Birthday (24 May) in 1870.

In 1958 Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day, in accordance with the new post-colonial relationship between the nations of the former empire.

The National Council in Canada of the Royal Commonwealth Society expressed in a 1973 letter to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that Commonwealth Day should be observed on the same day throughout all countries of the Commonwealth. They asked that this notion be included on the agenda of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Ottawa that year. The item eventually appeared on the agenda of the 1975 meeting, and it was agreed that the Commonwealth Secretariat select a date, preferably one without previous historical connotations. At the meeting of officials in Canberra in 1976, the Canadian proposal of the second Monday in March was adopted.

Observance

There is no uniform observance of the day, worldwide.

Australia

In 2006 Queen Elizabeth II delivered her Commonwealth Day address from St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, part of the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games that year in Melbourne. Although Commonwealth Day is not observed as a public holiday in Australia, several regional public holidays coincide with this day: Canberra Day in the Australian Capital Territory, Labour Day in Victoria, Adelaide Cup Day in South Australia and Eight-hour Day in Tasmania.

Canada

In Canada, the only official recognition is a federal government stipulation that the Royal Union Flag be flown alongside Canada's flag at government installations nationwide, "where physical arrangements allow... Physical arrangements means the existence of at least two flag poles". The 1964 parliamentary resolutions creating the Maple Leaf flag also retained the Union Flag as an official symbol of Canada's membership in the Commonwealth, and allegiance to the Crown.

United Kingdom

Empire Day was introduced in the UK in 1904 by Reginald Brabazon, the 7th Earl of Meath, 'to nurture a sense of collective identity and imperial responsibility among young empire citizens'. In schools, morning lessons were devoted to "exercises calculated to remind (the children) of their mighty heritage". The centrepiece of the day was an organised and ritualistic veneration of the Union flag. Then, schoolchildren were given the afternoon off, and further events were usually held in their local community. Empire Day became more of a sombre commemoration in the aftermath of World War I, and politically partisan as the Labour Party passed a resolution in 1926 to prevent the further celebration of Empire Day. After World War II, the event fell into rapid decline, and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan bowed to the inevitable on 18 December 1958, when he announced in Parliament that the name of Empire Day would be changed forthwith to Commonwealth Day.

The Union Flag is flown from public buildings on the second Monday in March to mark Commonwealth Day. The Scottish Parliament Building also flies the Commonwealth flag from the fourth flagpole.

The Queen, and other members of the Royal family, attend a special service at Westminster Abbey.

Gibraltar

Commonwealth Day is commemorated as a public holiday in Gibraltar.

Other Commonwealth countries

In member states of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday in March. In 2009, it was celebrated on 9 March. In some countries, such as Belize and in the Bahamas, Commonwealth Day is marked officially in schools with special programmes and assemblies such as flag-raising ceremonies. The Queen's Commonwealth Day message is often read at these events. Before 1997, the Commonwealth Day was a school holiday for many primary and secondary schools in the crown colony of Hong Kong.

Other related holidays

Although Commonwealth Day is not widely known, many Commonwealth countries do have at least one public holiday that celebrates the sovereign's birthday—the day which inspired Commonwealth Day.

In Australia, New Zealand, Gibraltar and some other countries, there is a Queen's Birthday holiday. In addition, the second Monday in March is Canberra Day in the Australian Capital Territory; this is an unrelated holiday on the same day as Commonwealth Day to celebrate the naming of the Australian capital city.

In Canada and some parts of Scotland, particularly in Edinburgh and Dundee, the Monday on or before 24 May is a public holiday known as Victoria Day.