Commonwealth Confederation (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Commonwealth Confederation
Flag Logo
Headquarters	Marlborough House, London, SW1Y 5HX, United Kingdom
Official languages	English
Type	Voluntary association
Membership	47 states Andaman and Nicobar Islands Aotearoa Australia Assyria Belize Biafra Botswana Brunei Cameroon Canada Confederate States Eelam Eswatini Fiji Ghana India Lesotho Malawi Malaya Maldives Mauritius Nauru Nigeria North Borneo Pakistan Papua New Guinea Patagonia Rhodesia Samoa Seychelles Sierra Leone South Africa South Arabian Federation Sri Lanka Tanganyika The Gambia Tibet Togo Tonga Tuvalu Uganda United Kingdom Vanuatu West Indies Westralia Zambia Zanzibar
Leaders
• Head Margaret of Canada • Secretary-General The Baroness Scotland of Asthal • Chair-in-Office Syed Farid Alatas
• Balfour Declaration	November 19, 1926
• Statute of Westminster	December 11, 1931
• London Declaration	April 28, 1949

The Commonwealth Confederation, often simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is an international association of 47 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which it developed. They are connected through their use of the English language and historical-cultural ties. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental relations, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member nations. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was evolved from the idea of Imperial Federation by Joseph Chamberlain during the late 19th to early 20th centuries. In 1902, Chamberlain was successful in pushing for the creation of Rikesmoot, an imperial consultative council representing dominions and colonies elected by the colonial legislatures to make decisions for the imperial defence and trade, at the 1902 Colonial Conference.

In 1926, the United Kingdom and its dominions declared at the Balfour Declaration they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Confederation of Nations" at the 1926 Imperial Conference. The current Commonwealth Confederation was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernised the community and established the member states as "free and equal".

The Head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth Confederation. The position of head of the Commonwealth is not hereditary, with successors are chosen by the Commonwealth heads of government. Once in office, there is no term limit and the officeholder can serve for the rest of his/her tenure for a head of state or for the rest of his life for a non-head of state. The current Head of the Commonwealth is Queen Margaret of Canada, who was elected following the death of the previous head, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, in 2022.