1960s
| Year | Date | Event |
| 1960 | 3 February | British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan issues his 'Wind of Change' speech to the Parliament of South Africa. |
| 3 May | The tenth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in London; Malaya demands South Africa's expulsion from the Commonwealth due to its racial policies. | |
| 1 October | Nigeria joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 1961 | 8 March | The eleventh Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in London. South Africa's application to request to remain in the Commonwealth upon becoming a republic is rejected due to the country's policy of apartheid. |
| 13 March | Cyprus joins the Commonwealth, having gained independence from the United Kingdom the previous year. Heavily opposed by the United Kingdom, it is the first small country to join. | |
| 27 April | Sierra Leone joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 31 May | South Africa becomes a republic, withdrawing from the Commonwealth. | |
| 9 December | Tanganyika, now part of Tanzania, joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 1962 | 31 May | The Federation of the West Indies collapses. Its constituent states revert to being colonies of the United Kingdom, and preparations begin to grant them separate independence within the Commonwealth. |
| 6 August | Jamaica joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 31 August | Trinidad and Tobago joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 10 September | The twelfth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in London. Concerns of Commonwealth countries about the implications for trade and economic relations in regards to Britain's possible entry into the European Common Market is the main topic of discussion. | |
| 9 October | Uganda joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 22 November | The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games open in Perth, Australia. | |
| 1963 | 10 December | Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania, joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. It is, albeit briefly, the first hereditary monarchy in the Commonwealth except for the Commonwealth Realms. |
| 12 December | Kenya joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 1964 | 26 April | Two Commonwealth members, Tanganyika and Zanzibar, merge to form the United Republic of Tanzania, which joins the Commonwealth. |
| 6 July | Malawi, previously Nyasaland, joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 8 July | The thirteenth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in London. The leaders agree to a communique declaring the Commonwealth's commitment to racial equality and an end to discrimination. The idea of a Commonwealth Secretariat is proposed. The government of the colony of Southern Rhodesia, whose prime ministers had frequently attended Imperial and Commonwealth conferences since 1930, is excluded due to a decision to confine attendance at meetings to leaders of independent states. | |
| 21 September | Malta joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 24 October | Zambia, previously Northern Rhodesia, joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 1965 | 18 February | The Gambia joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. |
| 17 June | The fourteenth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in London. The Conference approves the creation of the Commonwealth Secretariat. The meeting also discusses the crisis in Rhodesia, relations with South Africa and Portuguese colonies in Africa, and opposition by Asian and African Commonwealth countries to British, Australian and New Zealand's support for American intervention in the Vietnam War. The Commonwealth reaffirms its declaration that all Commonwealth states should work for societies based on racial equality. | |
| 1 July | The Commonwealth Secretariat is founded. The first Secretary-General is Canada's Arnold Smith. | |
| 15 August | India and Pakistan begin the second Indo-Pakistani War, over the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. | |
| 6 August | Singapore joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by Malaysia. | |
| 23 September | India and Pakistan sign a cease-fire, ending the second Indo-Pakistani War. | |
| 11 November | Rhodesia issues a Unilateral Declaration of Independence, which is rejected by the United Kingdom, sparking a 15-year crisis in the Commonwealth. | |
| 12 December | The United Kingdom imposes full economic sanctions on Rhodesia. | |
| 1966 | 10 January | The fifteenth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in Lagos, Nigeria to discuss the Rhodesian crisis. It was the first Conference held outside London. |
| 10 March | The Commonwealth Secretariat Act 1966 is passed, coming into effect retroactively on 1 July 1965, the date of the Secretariat's foundation, granting the Secretariat legal immunity in the United Kingdom. | |
| 26 May | Guyana, previously British Guiana, joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 4 August | The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games open in Kingston, Jamaica. It was the first time the Games were held outside the so-called 'White Commonwealth', and the last time the Games included the British Empire in their name. | |
| 6 September | The sixteenth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in London. Discussion is again dominated by Rhodesia with the United Kingdom announcing NIBMAR policy towards the rogue colony: refusing independence until the Black majority is given the vote. | |
| 30 September | Botswana joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 4 October | Lesotho, formerly Basutoland, joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 30 November | Barbados joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 1968 | 31 January | Nauru joins the Commonwealth as a 'Special Member' upon being granted independence from a joint Australia-New Zealand-United Kingdom trusteeship. It is the first microstate to join. |
| 12 March | Mauritius joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 6 September | Swaziland joins the Commonwealth upon being granted independence by the United Kingdom. | |
| 1969 | 7 January | The seventeenth and last Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference convenes in London and is again dominated by discussion of how to bring white minority rule in Rhodesia to an end. Also discussed is the Biafra crisis in Nigeria and discrimination against South Asian communities living in Africa and Black and Asian immigrants living in the UK. |
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of Commonwealth Of Nations History