Victoria Square’s Flagstaff Used For First Empire Day – 24th May 1907

On 24th May 1907, a newly erected flagpole in Victoria Square was used for Christchurch’s first ‘Empire Day’ (pictured). To the sound of buglers playing the ‘Royal Salute’, the Union Jack was hoisted up above the thousands that had gathered below. In 1909, this flagpole was transformed into a flagstaff by the addition of a …