From Jamaica to East Ayrshire, local authorities, community groups and charities have marked Commonwealth Day by taking part in the largest ever, single raising of the Commonwealth flag.
This is the fourth year that ‘Fly a Flag for the Commonwealth’ has been held throughout the British Isles and Commonwealth countries and this year saw around 1000 flags being raised.
Scouts in The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Malaysia, Maldives, Republic of Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Samoa, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago raised the Commonwealth flag at 10am local time on 12 March, joining thousands of other young people around the world to mark the 2018 Commonwealth theme: ‘Towards a Common Future’. This year’s theme explores how the Commonwealth can address global challenges and work to create a better future for everyone through sustainability, safety, prosperity and fairness.
As it’s the Year of Young People, several young people were invited along to the East Ayrshire flag raising at Council HQ in Kilmarnock.
Terri Brown, member of the Scottish Youth Parliament and Ryan Chynoweth helped the Provost to raise the Commonwealth flag while Cameron Raeside read out the Commonwealth Affirmation.