Hello, you various old things. Are you currently reading this Internationally? Are you within reaching distance of a bag, not a carton, of milk? Have you strong opinions about your country of origin’s relationship to Elizabeth II? Fantastic. We are holding, just for you, you special darlings, a Commonwealth Nations Day in the very near future.

The Commonwealth dates back to the late 19th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the member states as “free and equal”. The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth, a wholly symbolic position. Elizabeth II is also the head of state of 16 members of the Commonwealth, known as realms. The other members of the Commonwealth have their own heads of state: 32 members are republics and 5 members are monarchies.

Member states have no legal obligation one to another, instead they are united by language, history and culture, and their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.

Please fling your thoughts to submissions@the-toast.net. Whether you have fond memories of growing up New Zealandish, or many opinions about postcolonial politics, or would like to explain something about the strange and backwards English, we would like very much to hear from you. We leave you with this: