Empire Day

London schoolchildren wave their flags for the first official Empire Day, as soldiers parade in the playground.

Flying the flag for patriotism, London schoolchildren offer gifts (of cigars, perhaps?) to wounded soldiers on the first official Empire Day - captured beautifully by Topical Budget's newsreel cameras. The event was held on 24 May, the birthday of Queen Victoria, and was intended to remind children "what it meant to be sons and daughters of such a glorious Empire". It was rebranded as Commonwealth Day in 1958.