Stone Town Council will be raising the Commonwealth Flag in Stone High Street on Monday 14th March 2016.
The flag-raising will be part of an event which will see more than 850 Commonwealth Flags raised in locations throughout the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, UK Overseas Territories and Commonwealth countries on Commonwealth Day 2016.
Heads of State, Prime Ministers and many others around the world will join to raise Flags at 10am in a shared celebration of this amazing family of nations that encompasses the globe. This unique initiative, now in its third year, is again catching the imagination of thousands of participants from all walks of life.
The first flag will be raised in Tonga.
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Halaevalu Mangisi Palu, Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association of the Kingdom of Tonga, said: “In Tonga, where time begins, the Girl Guides Association of the Kingdom of Tonga are humbled to be granted the honour to be the first country in the world to raise the Commonwealth Flag at 10am on 14th March 2016, leading the youth of the Commonwealth in this unique, historic, global event that morning.”[/box]
A personal message from His Excellency Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, and a specially written Commonwealth Affirmation will be read out at each ceremony before the raising of the Commonwealth Flag.
We also celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday on the 21st April this year, so this marks a special occasion for the Commonwealth too, especially as The Queen is its Head.
The Commonwealth theme this year will be: ‘An Inclusive Commonwealth’, which refers to the values of tolerance, respect and understanding, as well as equity and fairness, set out in the Commonwealth Charter, and the richness of the Commonwealth as a family of nations in which each member state is valued equally and has an equal voice.
