Stone Town Council will be raising the Commonwealth Flag in Stone High Street on Monday 9th March.
This will be part of an event which will see over 650 other Commonwealth Flags raised in 38 Commonwealth countries. A specially written Commonwealth Affirmation will be read out by the town mayor, Cllr Cathy Collier, at 10am before the raising of the Commonwealth Flag in Stone.
Councillor Philip Jones, Chairman of the Town Council’s General Purposes Committee said: “We are frequently reminded of our close links with our European neighbours so it is seemly that we should celebrate and recall our historic and family connections with the countries of the British Commonwealth. I am delighted that this is what we are doing in Stone”
Commonwealth Flags will also be flown at many locations of special significance that morning, which include six flag raising ceremonies on the George Cross Island of Malta; the City of Wellington, New Zealand, Belize, Jamaica, Mauritius, Sri Lanka; Lowestoft, Suffolk, the easternmost town in England; Unst in the Shetland Islands, the most northerly inhabited Island in Scotland; the Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula; and Tristan Da Cunha, the remotest inhabited Island in the world – to name but a few.
His Excellency Kamelesh Sharma, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, said: “Fly a Flag for the Commonwealth is a most imaginative way for people in local communities – wherever they live, learn or work – to join together with others throughout the Commonwealth in a spirit of respect and understanding to celebrate the variety of unmatched diversity of our global family. I welcome and commend it.”
