The phrase, "the Empire on which the sun never sets", has been used with variations to describe certain global empires that were so extensive that there was always at least one part of their territory in daylight.
It was originally used for the Spanish Empire, mainly in the 16th and 17th centuries, and for the British Empire, mainly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Especially in the 20th century, the metaphor (usually without the word "Empire") has been transferred to refer to American power.
Georg Büchmann traces the idea to a speech in Herodotus' Histories, made by Xerxes I of Persia before invading Greece.
Read more about The Empire On Which The Sun Never Sets: Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Punning Variations
Famous quotes containing the words empire, sun and/or sets:
“On 16 September 1985, when the Commerce Department announced that the United States had become a debtor nation, the American Empire died.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)
“For the sun will shine in my back door some day.”
—Richard M. Jones (1892–1945)
“There is the name and the thing; the name is a sound which sets a mark on and denotes the thing. The name is no part of the thing nor of the substance; it is an extraneous piece added to the thing, and outside of it.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)