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Commonwealth of Nations

by Mark Sensen, 27 July 1996

Origin of the flag
Membership
Commonwealth Games

See also:

Colonies of the United Kingdom
Dean Thomas's page about the flags of the Commonwealth Games.
International Organizations

Origin of the flag

The flag was adopted on 26 March 1976 (source: Flagmaster, number 81, 1995).

Mark Sensen, 27 July 1996

Membership

The Commonwealth of Nations is a worldwide political organization of independent nations with their dependencies, all of which recognize the British monarch as head of the Commonwealth.

The members, on 1 December 1996, were: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, the Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru (special member), New Zealand, Nigeria (suspended), Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, St.Kitts and Nevis, St.Lucia, St.Vincent, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu (special member), Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Mark Sensen, 27 July 1996

Commonwealth Games (Ceremonial Flag)

by Dean Thomas, 4 March 1998

Size (est.) 3 metres X 5.5 meters (ratio 2.3)
Description: Royal Blue Flag with central emblem depicting British Queen's Crown surrounded by a linked chain in the form of an oval. Below the crown are the letters C G. The crown, lettering, and chain are colored yellow. The Chain represents the nations of the Commonwealth. the Crown represents HRH Queen Elizabeth II, the head of the Commonwealth. The lettering stands for Commonwealth Games.

Additional Data: Like the Olympic Games Flag, this flag is raised on a large flagpole in the main stadium at the Opening Ceremony and flies for the duration of the games (10 days). It is lowered at the Games Closing Ceremony and entrusted to the mayor of the host city who will, in due course, hand the flag over to the mayor of the next Games host city. This particular flag is the 4th and latest version of the Ceremonial Flag since the Games were inaugurated in 1930. This version was first used at the Games in Edmonton, Canada in 1978.

Dean Thomas, 4 March 1998

Commonwealth Games (Federation Flag)

by Dean Thomas, 12 September 1998

Description: A white flag proportioned 8:15. The flag is "fringed" with red-white-blue square "blocks". In the white central section of the flag offset toward the hoist is the Commonwealth Games Seal within a blue disc. The seal consists of the British Queen's Crown within a pentagonally arranged twenty-link chain (as opposed to the oval chain configuration of the Ceremonial Flag). Beneath the crown are the initials "C G" in Times New Roman font. The pentagonal arrangement of the chain is representative of the five geographic regions (Americas, Oceania, Africa, Asia, Europe) of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Useage: This flag flies at the headquarters of the Commonwealth Games Federation in London, at meetings elsewhere wherever the Commonwealth Games Federation meets, and at the Commonwealth Games itself (usually on the main grandstand to avoid clashing with the ceremonial flag). This version of the flag dates from 1974, when the name change from British Commonwealth Games to Commonwealth Games took place.

Dean Thomas, 12 September 1998