Published: Thursday, 9 March 2023

Oxford City Council will fly the Commonwealth of Nations’ Flag of Peace to mark the 10th anniversary of Commonwealth Day on Monday (13/3).

The day marks the signing of the Commonwealth Charter, which sets out the values and aspirations that unite the Commonwealth, by the late Queen Elizabeth II on 11 March 2013.

To mark this year’s Commonwealth Day, the Lord Mayor of Oxford, Councilor James Fry, will host a short service from 10.35am under Carfax Towner in Oxford.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the service.

The order of service is:

  • 10.35am: Welcome from the Lord Mayor of Oxford
  • 10.40am: Reading of the Commonwealth Proclamation by the Town Crier, Jean Postlethwaite-Dixon
  • 10.45am: Fanfare by bugler Alan Aston
  • 10.50am: Blessing of the flag by The Revd Anthony Buckley, City Rector, and Imam Monawar Hussain
  • 10.55am: Highland Cathedral by piper George Sinclair
  • 11am: The Commonwealth of Nations’ Flag of Peace is raised above Oxford Town Hall

All 74 cities of the United Kingdom will raise the Flag of Peace at the same time.

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent countries across Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. It is home to 2.5 billion people.

The Flag for Peace features a white dove of peace in the bottom right-hand corner, symbolising the shared values and principles of the Commonwealth, including co-operation on economic and social development, diversity, respect, friendship and the promotion of peace around the world.

For more information about Commonwealth Day visit The Commonwealth website.

“Now, more than ever, when the world is ravaged by dreadful wars in areas as diverse as Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Congo, and with more localised armed conflict elsewhere, members of the Commonwealth of Nations are currently mercifully free of such horrors.

I hope that the Commonwealth can serve as a role model for countries who are not among its 56 member states. That is why it is as important as ever to commemorate the flying of the Commonwealth Flag of Peace on Commonwealth Day.”

Councillor James Fry, the Lord Mayor of Oxford

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