Commonwealth Day

The idea of observing one day each year as a public holiday throughout the British Empire was first suggested in 1894 and 1895 by Thomas Robinson, the honorary secretary for the Royal Colonial Institute based in Winnipeg. Taking up Robinson's suggestion, the Royal Colonial Institute's London council petitioned Queen Victoria in July 1894, arguing that while other nations had annual national celebrations, the British Empire lacked one. They proposed designating the Queen's birthday for this purpose. In a reply the British prime minister, Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, stated that it was a matter not for the government but for the community and pointed out that government departments already observed the Queen's birthday as a holiday. However, the idea quickly gained support from organisations such as the British Empire League in the 1890s. from 1929. The idea to hold an "Empire Day" as a day that would "remind children that they formed part of the British Empire" also gained support among educations during the 1890s. Empire Day was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1904 by Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath, "to nurture a sense of collective identity and imperial responsibility among young empire citizens". After the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901, her birthday, 24 May, was celebrated from 1902 as Empire Day, though not officially recognised as an annual event until 1916. 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. Schoolchildren were given the afternoon off, and further events were usually held in their local community. After the First World War, the jingoism was toned down in favour of sombre commemoration in the festival. However, Empire Day became more of a sombre commemoration in the aftermath of the First World War, and politically partisan in the United Kingdom as the Labour Party passed a resolution in 1926 to prevent the further celebration of Empire Day. and the Woodcraft Folk organised protests against Empire Day celebrations in schools from 1927 through to the early 1930s. Change in name and date After the Second World War the event fell into rapid decline. On 18 December 1958 the British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, announced in the House of Commons that Empire Day would be renamed Commonwealth Day. In 1973 the National Council in Canada of the Royal Commonwealth Society submitted a proposal to the Canadian prime minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, that Commonwealth Day should be observed simultaneously throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. The proposal was included in the Canadian items for inclusion in the agenda for the 1975 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. After the meeting, it was agreed that the Commonwealth Secretariat would select a date with no historical connotations so that the entire Commonwealth could use it as a date to celebrate Commonwealth Day. At a meeting in Canberra in May 1976, senior Commonwealth officials agreed on a new fixed date for Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March. The second Monday of March was selected by Commonwealth leaders as it was a day when most schools would be in session, facilitating student participation in several Commonwealth-related activities, including mini-Commonwealth Games, simulated Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and studies and celebrations on the geography, ecology, products or societies of other Commonwealth countries. ==Observance==