Įmpire Day was introduced in the UK in 1904 by Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath, 'to nurture a sense of collective identity and imperial responsibility among young empire citizens'. Empire Day or Victoria Day was celebrated in the Cape Colony before the Second Boer War and thereafter throughout the Union of South Africa.

In 1898, Canadian Clementina Trenholme introduced an Empire Day to Ontario schools, on the last school day before 24 May, Queen Victoria's birthday. The idea of a day that would 'remind children that they formed part of the British Empire' was conceived in 1897. King George VI delivering a radio broadcast to the British Empire on Empire Day 1939, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada It is marked as a holiday in Gibraltar, but not in March. While it has a certain official status, Commonwealth Day is not a public holiday in most Commonwealth countries, and there is little public awareness of it. The monarch delivers a broadcast address to the Commonwealth.

It is marked by an Anglican service in Westminster Abbey, normally attended by the monarch as Head of the Commonwealth along with the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth High Commissioners in London. Flags of the Commonwealth flying in Horse Guards, London Monday, 10 March 2014Ĭommonwealth Day (formerly Empire Day) is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, since 1977 often held on the second Monday in March.

What is the meaning of commonwealth