Just tossing it in there....

[Lucky13]

Why is it, that Canada, Australia, New Zealand use the 'Royal'....neither is a kingdom, is this a commonwealth thing?
Does it mean that they're NOT 100% independent or?
Do explain the idea behind it, please....

Yip, wide awake and can't sleep!

 

[fubar57]

I remember when there was a Royal Mail Canada back in the 60s. The RCAF changed its name to the CAF in '68 and then back to RCAF in 2011. Canada became wholly independent from Britain in 1982. We're still part of the family though which means we only have to bow to the East on Mondays at 2:30 PM

 

[pbehn]

The nation eagerly awaits the wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle, It means that the FA cup final will start in a few hours.

 

[stona]

It's simply because the Queen remains the Head of State of some Commonwealth nations. It's a rather complicated system by which she does so, and of course many Commonwealth nations have dispensed with her.
There are no Royal South African Navy ships, whereas there are Royal Australian Navy ships, and they are Her Majesty's Australian Ships, though neither she nor the UK have any control over them whatsoever.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Njaco]

Seems we have something similar in the States. Not all are states. There is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for example. I'm guessing it goes back to colonial days..

 

[Lucky13]

Always wondered lads....

 

[stona]

Commonwealth in that US sense certainly goes back to colonial days. Britain was itself a Commonwealth during the period when Oliver Cromwell was 'ruling' as Lord Protector. Some would describe this as a military dictatorship, but that's another story

The modern Commonwealth of Nations is just a club open to Britain's ex-colonies and dominions. It has no real power, no military alliances of coordinated policy, it is simply composed of nations who share certain aspects of a common heritage (law and parliamentary democracy being two, the English language another (to a certain extent).
My brother, now retired, was a fairly senior police officer and was once head hunted by an Australian force (Queensland) which was having corruption problems, something he had dealt with in the Met. He didn't take the job. I understand that Canada has also recruited British police officers.

Some retain the Queen as a ceremonial Head of State, not just the 'Old' Commonwealth (Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the exception being South Africa) but several Caribbean states, and a few in the Pacific.

Quite a few still drive on the left too. Some, I'm thinking particularly of India, nominally drive on the left, but not rigorously

We also get the Commonwealth Games at which we can win a few medals and have a go at the Aussies in the velodrome and swimming pool!

Cheers

Steve

 

[Shortround6]

We also get the Commonwealth Games at which we can win a few medals and have a go at the Aussies in the velodrome and swimming pool!

I have had the privilege of shooting at a few venues that were used in different commonwealth games and very fine facilities they were with very fine people running them/hosting us even though it was years away from the games and we were yanks

 

[The Basket]

Probably thought u were Canadian.

 

[pbehn]

Why is it, that Canada, Australia, New Zealand use the 'Royal'....neither is a kingdom, is this a commonwealth thing?
Does it mean that they're NOT 100% independent or?
Do explain the idea behind it, please....

Yip, wide awake and can't sleep!

Maybe like the union flag on Hawaii's state flag there is a historical reason but it is as important or unimportant as anyone wants to make it. You see "union flags" all over China because it is basically the Chinese character for rice done in colours.

 

[buffnut453]

There are actually a couple of Commonwealth nations that were never part of the British Empire: Mozambique, formerly a Portuguese colony, was accepted in 1995, and, more recently, Rwanda which joined in 2009.

 

[stona]

I think the Hawaiian flag has the Union Flag in the corner as an act of friendship to the UK, at a time when Britain really did rule the waves. Either that or they felt bad about killing Captain Cook

Hawaiian Kingdom - National Flag

Cheers

Steve

 

[Gnomey]

As has been said already the Queen remains head of state in a number of Commonwealth nations as well as the Commonwealth itself. The nomenclature therefore is up to the nations themselves...

 

[XBe02Drvr]

Seems we have something similar in the States. Not all are states. There is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for example. I'm guessing it goes back to colonial days..

Add to that Massachusetts and Virginia, all among the earliest English colonies chartered in North America, and conceived as representing the common wealth of all the charterers. "We're all in this together, lads, so we've got to pull together to make a go of it."
Cheers,
Wes

 

[pbehn]

Add to that Massachusetts and Virginia, all among the earliest English colonies chartered in North America, and conceived as representing the common wealth of all the charterers. "We're all in this together, lads, so we've got to pull together to make a go of it."
Cheers,
Wes

The word "commonwealth" means what the reader or user wants it to mean, like "communism". Some communes had people living a happy hippy existence while others were military dictatorships. Some of the commonwealth states set up and used the word as a rejection of the monarchy in the UK, but Cromwell called his military regime the commonwealth for the same reason.

 

[Lucky13]

Many thanks for explaining etc., lads!

 

[nuuumannn]

In New Zealand two years ago we had a referendum to determine a new flag as the government decided that the Union Jack was not appropriate to modern day New Zealand. The existing flag won out by a small margin. Some of the designs put forward were hilarious! Like the Kiwi shooting lasers out of its eyes!

This wiki page goes into the entire thing in far too much detail than what you actually need to know, but shows the alternatives that were shortlisted: New Zealand flag debate - Wikipedia

One of the biggest arguments that the flag should change was that the UK had little relevance here today, to which I called BS. Our military, our parliament and our law system are based on British practise, every year thousands of Kiwis go to Britain to research their ancestry, not only that but our histories are inexorably intertwined. Not only did Kiwis go to fight alongside Britain during two world wars and there are Kiwis buried in the UK, but there are thousands of Brits who lost their lives on our soil during the New Zealand wars of the 19th Century. Also, the flag changers argued proximity and trade being a reason for discarding the Union Jack, well, even though we have a free trade agreement with China, I really don't think that the Kiwi flag should have yellow stars on it or the background become red!

The current Prime Minister has mentioned dissestablishing the Queen as head of state within her lifetime, but whether this is something the government intends on doing or not hasn't been made clear.