Editing Commonwealth Day (section)

==History==
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.<ref name=reeseorigin>{{cite book |last1=Reese |first1=Trevor Richard |title=The History of the Royal Commonwealth Society 1868–1968 |date=1968 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |page=153 |isbn=978-0-19-212942-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofroyalco0000rees/page/152/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref><ref name=hallidayorigin>{{cite news |url=http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/op-ed/comment-commonwealth-day-unites-people-around-the-world-1.1784845 |title=Commonwealth Day unites people around the world|author=Wendy Halliday |date=7 March 2015 |newspaper=[[Times Colonist]] |access-date=2 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009194725/http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/op-ed/comment-commonwealth-day-unites-people-around-the-world-1.1784845 |archive-date=9 October 2017 }}</ref> However, the idea quickly gained support from organizations such as the [[British Empire League]] in the 1890s.<ref name="Malcolm">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3633193/Empire-What-empire.html |title=Empire? What empire?|author= Noel Malcolm|date=12 December 2004 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=2 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004125419/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3633193/Empire-What-empire.html |archive-date=4 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="huk">{{cite web |url=http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Empire-Day/ |title=Empire Day |date=2006 |publisher=Historic UK |access-date=2 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010004611/http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Empire-Day/ |archive-date=10 October 2017 }}</ref> 
[[File:Emipre Day in the Schools of Ontario, 1929 (IA emipredayinschoo00onta).pdf|thumb|School guide for observances of Empire Day in the schools of [[Ontario]] 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.<ref name="huk"/> Championed by [[Clementina Trenholme]], Empire Day was first observed in [[Ontario]] schools in 1898 and scheduled for the last school day before May 24, Queen Victoria's birthday.<ref name=reeseorigin/><ref name=hallidayorigin/> By the end of the 19th century, Empire Day was also celebrated in [[Cape Colony]] before the [[Second Boer War]] and thereafter throughout the [[Union of South Africa]].<ref name=reeseorigin/><ref name=hallidayorigin/><ref>{{cite book |title=The Emergence of the South African Metropolis: Cities and Identities in the Twentieth Century |last=Bickford-Smith |first=Vivian |year=2016 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1107002937 |page=70}}</ref> 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".<ref>Jim English. ''Empire Day in Britain, 1904–58''. p. 248.</ref> 

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.<ref name="huk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1916/apr/05/empire-day |title=Empire Day |date=5 April 1916 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |access-date=3 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009195403/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1916/apr/05/empire-day |archive-date=9 October 2017 }}</ref>{{Deprecated inline|date=November 2021}} In schools, morning lessons were devoted to "exercises calculated to remind (the children) of their mighty heritage".<ref>Earl of Meath, ‘British youth and the empire’,n earl of Meath, Brabazon potpourri (London, 1928), p. 95</ref> 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.<ref name="English2006">{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/empire-day-in-britain-19041958/182AE5D297B87D4F8E437549163BE800 |title=EMPIRE DAY IN BRITAIN, 1904–1958|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=24 February 2006|author=Jim English  |journal=[[The Historical Journal]]|volume=49|issue=1|access-date=17 August 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010004424/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/empire-day-in-britain-19041958/182AE5D297B87D4F8E437549163BE800 |archive-date=10 October 2017 }}</ref>  

After the [[First World War]], the jingoism was toned down in favour of sombre [[Memorialization|commemoration]] in the festival.<ref name="English2006"/> In 1925, 90,000 people attended an Empire Day thanksgiving service held at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] as part of the [[British Empire Exhibition]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Conservative Party and the Extreme Right 1945–1975 |last=Pitchford |first=Mark |year=2011 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-0719083631 |page=82}}</ref> However, Empire Day became more of a sombre commemoration in the aftermath of World War I, and politically partisan in the United Kingdom as the Labour Party passed a resolution in 1926 to prevent the further celebration of Empire Day.<ref name="English2006"/>

{{Blockquote|text=The Conservative party and other groups adopted Empire Day as a vehicle for anti-socialist propaganda, whilst the communist party exploited it as an opportunity to attack British imperialism. Other protests came from local Labour groups and pacifist dissenters. The overt politicization of Empire Day severely disrupted its hegemonic function and the political battles fought over the form and purpose of the celebrations made it difficult to uphold the notion that the festival was merely a benign tribute to a legitimate and natural state of affairs.}}

===Change in name and date===
After [[World War II]], the event fell into rapid decline. On 18 December 1958, Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]] announced in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] that the name of Empire Day would be changed to Commonwealth Day.<ref name="English2006"/><ref>{{cite book |title=Britain and the World since 1945 |last=Blair |first=Alasdair |year=2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=978-1408248294 |page=11}}<br>- {{cite hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |title=Commonwealth Day |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1958-12-18/debates/cb6e6778-7c11-4929-895e-674339b8a602/CommonwealthDay?highlight=%22empire%20day%22#contribution-5a7e98c3-99b7-40f3-8bb0-f124fa143382 |house=House of Commons |date=18 December 1958 |column=467 |speaker=[[Alec Douglas-Home|The Earl of Home]] |position=[[Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations]]}}</ref>
[[File:Commonwealth Day Canada 14 March 1983 (40699768595).jpg|thumb|A Canadian [[postmark]] issued on Commonwealth Day 1983]]
In 1973, the National Council in Canada of the [[Royal Commonwealth Society]] submitted a proposal to 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.<ref name=canada>{{cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/important-commemorative-days/commonwealth-day.html|title=Commonwealth Day|date=24 October 2018|access-date=19 February 2023|website=www.canada.ca|publisher=Government of Canada}}</ref> 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.<ref name=observanceuk>{{cite web|url=https://www.commonwealthofnations.org/commonwealth/commonwealth-day/|title=Commonwealth Day|publisher=Commonwealth Network|access-date=17 August 2021|year=2020|website=www.commonwealthofnations.org}}</ref>