Commonwealth Day is an annual celebration observed by people all over the Commonwealth in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, the Pacific and Europe.
The Affirmation, which is usually part of the traditional ceremony, pledges to uphold and serve the values and fellowship of the Commonwealth and more information can be viewed on the Commonwealth Day website.
The Commonwealth Affirmation
“Joining together as members of one worldwide Commonwealth family, we raise this flag as a symbol of the ties of friendship we cherish, affirming our kinship and common purpose in building for the future towards shared goals of development and democracy, and commit ourselves afresh to working alongside one another in spirit of respect and understanding, exploring new ideas and rising to fresh challenges, with all our sisters and brothers, wherever we may live, learn or work”
Commonwealth Day is an annual celebration observed across the 54 member countries. Commonwealth Day 2022 is celebrated on Monday 14 March, with a service held at Westminster Abbey and a schedule of virtual events.
The theme for Commonwealth Day 2022 centres around the theme for the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – ‘Delivering a Common Future‘ – which highlights how the 54 member countries in the Commonwealth family are ‘innovating, connecting and transforming’ to help achieve goals like fighting climate change, promoting good governance and boosting trade.
Given that 2022 is Her Majesty’s Jubilee Year, there is also a special focus this year on the role service plays in the lives of people and communities across the Commonwealth.
Statement from Shaftesbury Mayor, Andrew Hollingshead;
‘Commonwealth Day once again gives us the opportunity to celebrate this group of 54 nations, from large to small, from East to West, who together embody the values of civil society.
Those values – the values of democracy, human rights, international peace and security, tolerance, respect and understanding, freedom of expression, protecting the environment and the rule of law, have never seemed so important as in this uncertain time.
It is my great pleasure on behalf of the people of Shaftesbury to welcome this annual celebration of this great institution.’