General Chat

Empire Day :-D

As we no longer have one there is not much point in having one :-( however we still have a Commonwealth (Just) perhaps we may celebrate that. :-(

true - very true, but the date just sticks in my mind for some reason

We used to march round our playground on the morning waving flags singing......Empire Day, the 24th of May, if you don't give us a holiday, we'll all run away.

We always had the afternoon off school for some reason.

The date always sticks in my mind too Ann.

Kath. x

I always think of Empire Day as being somewhat jingoistic and hackneyed.

A bit sort of living in the past.

Aren't we now part of the European Empire? ;-) :-S

living in the past is no bad thing - quite frankly I found living in the past a lot better than things are today

Or maybe the United States of Europe, :-D With Blair as President in Waiting. :-(

Was the empire such a good thing though? If so, why did all the countries that were part of it want independence?

Probably the same reason we want out of the EU.Graham,the difference is the old Epire members are still receiving a lot of aid from us.

We would go to school wearing striped red.white and blue hair ribbons and it was a sort of holiday because there were no lessons in the afternoon but we would have demonstrations in the playground and maypole dancing . Parents could come to watch the activities and we would finish and go home early.

We always felt a big sense of pride on Empire Day because its importance was stressed into us by the teachers

I never heard of Empire Day when I was a child in Scotland..... or maybe I wasn't paying attention.

First heard of it when we came to Australia in 1963!

Looks like they done away with it in 1958 ish....probably why I had never heard of it then

ah yes Empire Day I remember it well Ann :-)

Empire Day was first celebrated in 1902,the year after Queen Victoria's death, and held on May 24,the Queen's birthday.to give people a chance to show pride in being a part of the British Empire, salute the Union flag and sing patriotic songs.

Of course children of today would not be familiar with this day because nations have independence and are now part of the Commonwealth, but when I was a school girl we loved to take part in the various activities, and wear daisies in our buttonholes. And as you say Shirley we had the afternoon as a holiday! :-D

Empire day ended in 1958 when it was renamed British Commonwealth Day. In 1966 on 10th June, Queen Elizabeth's official birthday, it became known as Commonwealth Day.

Here endeth the history lesson.... ;-)

Mau :-D

well thanks for that Mau!!! :-D

Any time Ann lol <3

May 24th is Victoria Day in Canada


A Statutory holiday .................. ie, your Bank Holiday


It was originally to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday


then the same date was kept to celebrate the birthdays of a couple of her successors





Now the name is kept for the holiday

the holiday is celebrated on the Monday preceding the 24th ..................... so last Monday was Victoria Day




Its importance to us now is that it is

the start of the summer,

the weekend on which most people who camp go away for the first time of the year



and



the traditional planting and seeding date for gardeners and farmers in most areas of Canada, as it is the date after which frost-free nights are more common than frosty nights.