Commonwealth Day 2017 - Seychelles joins Commonwealth countries around the world to fly the flag |11 March 2017

At 10am on Monday March 13, Seychelles will join the 52 Commonwealth countries in raising the Commonwealth flag in celebration of Commonwealth Day.

The flag will be raised at Freedom Square, joining over 950 other Commonwealth flags being flown around the world. In a common act of witness, members of this family of nations will reaffirm the commitment of all Commonwealth member states to democracy, development, and respect for diversity.

Members of the public are invited to witness the Commonwealth Day flag raising from 9.30am in Freedom Square, where representatives from the Tobruk Club, the Board of Trustees of Seychelles Ex-Servicemen Fund, Ceps (Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles) and the British high commission will host the ceremony to mark the occasion.

Exhibits by Commonwealth organisations represented in Seychelles will be present and will be open to the public between 9.30am and 10.30am.

The Commonwealth Youth Council will also hold an Inter-Generational Dialogue at the STC conference hall from 1.30pm on Commonwealth Day. The aim of the event is to give youth an opportunity to interact with other generations to find real solutions to real problems in society.

The dialogue will be held under the theme ‘Promoting Peace in Seychelles - Let's Talk Solutions’, inspired by this year’s Commonwealth theme ‘A Peace-Building Commonwealth’.

In regards to this year’s theme, the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations, The Right Honourable Patricia Scotland QC said: “’A Peace-building Commonwealth’ is a natural follow-on from our previous theme of ‘An Inclusive Commonwealth’, and reaffirms the Commonwealth Charter principle that international peace and security, sustainable economic growth and development and the rule of law are essential to the progress and prosperity of all.”

The ‘Fly a Flag for the Commonwealth’ initiative, now in its third year, is again catching the imagination of thousands of participants from all walks of life across the globe.

Bruno Peek, the originator and Commonwealth Pageantmaster of ‘Fly a Flag for the Commonwealth’, said: “I am amazed how quickly this event has caught the public imagination in the UK and around the Commonwealth.

“We are only in our third year, and the participation of so many people of all ages and from all walks of life, shows the enormous potential of this project and of the Commonwealth. It is a positive and uplifting way for people to link with and assist fellow citizens of the Commonwealth in a family that spans across oceans and continents.”

For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth, young members of the United Kingdom Army Cadet Force (ACF) will also mark the occasion by carrying the Commonwealth flag to the top of the highest peaks in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on Commonwealth Day, and will raise the flag at 52 other locations across the United Kingdom.

Lord Mayors, town and parish councils, local authorities, communities, schools, Commonwealth Ex-Servicemen and many others around the world will raise more than 950 Commonwealth flags at 10.00am (local time) on Monday 13 March, in a shared celebration.

Scouts in The Bahamas, Jamaica, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, New Zealand and Sri Lanka will also be raising the Commonwealth flag on this day, joining thousands of other young people around the world in committing themselves to the values of the Commonwealth Charter.