History
The London Declaration of 1949, devised by Canadian prime minister Louis St. Laurent, states that the monarch, as a symbol of the free association of independent countries, is the Head of the Commonwealth. Republics—and kingdoms that are not Commonwealth realms—can recognise the monarch as Head of the Commonwealth without accepting the person as the country's head of state. When India adopted a republican constitution on 26 January 1950, it recognised George VI as the symbol of the association but no longer as India's head of state.
Elizabeth II became Head of the Commonwealth when she ascended to the throne in 1952. On her accession she announced, "The Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace."
In December 1960, the Queen had a personal flag created to symbolise her as Head of the Commonwealth and not associated with her role as queen of any particular country. Over time, the flag has replaced the British Royal Standard when the Queen visits Commonwealth countries where she is not head of state and on Commonwealth occasions in the United Kingdom. When the Queen visits the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, this personal standard—not any of her royal standards—is raised.
Read more about this topic: Head Of The Commonwealth
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“In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.”
—Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)