England is one of only six teams to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. The others are Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The Commonwealth Games is the only major

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

in which English athletes and teams compete as England, organised by

Commonwealth Games England Commonwealth Games England (CGE) is the national Commonwealth Games Association for England. The council is responsible for supporting and managing the participation of Team England at the Commonwealth Games'. Predecessor The Commonwealth Gam ...

; at

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

and

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from European nations and several transcontinental countries. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the European Olympic Committees ...

England participates as part of

Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, (along with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, 10 of the 13 British Overseas Territories and the three Crown Dependencies) through the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

Games summary

Commonwealth Games

After the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

, England was second in the All-time tally of medals, with an overall total of 2322 medals (773 Gold, 783 Silver and 766 Bronze). Australia has been the highest scoring team for fourteen games, England for seven and Canada for one.

Commonwealth Paraplegic Games

Host nation

England has hosted the Games thrice: :

1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events we ...

– London, England :

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

– Manchester, England :

– Birmingham, England

Commonwealth Games England

(CGE) is the organisation responsible for all matters relating to the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in England. Membership of the Games Council consists of representatives of 26 sports in the Commonwealth Games programme from which the host city selects up to 17 sports for each Games. The

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

s are elected by the council and hold office for 4 years, their work will be supported by four salaried staff. The current president is Dame

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set British ...

, who won her first international Gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, in Victoria, Canada. CGE is a member of the

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is governing body of the ...

who have overall responsibility for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games.

How it helps English competitors

Since 1994, the costs of the preparation of Team England have been supported with funding from

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

, a public body that distributes public and lottery funds. This has enabled CGE to run extensive management, training and educational programmes, ensuring that competitors and officials alike are fully prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

Funds

The raising of funds for the team's participation in the Games themselves is the sole responsibility of CGE and is raised through sponsorship and fund-raising activities. Donations from commerce and industry as well as the general public towards the team's costs are always most gratefully received. Without this ongoing support Team England would not be able to participate in the Games.

Team symbols

Brand identity

In the run-up to the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

, CGE adopted a new logo and brand identity. The new logo features a single red English lion which represents strength, power and performance. The team strapline is "We are England".

Flag and victory anthem

Team England uses the Cross of St George as its flag at the Commonwealth Games. This flag is common for all sporting teams that represent England as an entity distinct from the United Kingdom. Since 2010 onwards, Team England have used the hymn "

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

" as their victory anthem. This replaced "

Land of Hope and Glory "Land of Hope and Glory" is a British patriotic song, with music by Edward Elgar written in 1901 and lyrics by A. C. Benson later added in 1902. Composition The music to which the words of the refrain 'Land of Hope and Glory, &c' below ar ...

" which was used at previous games. In April 2010, Commonwealth Games England conducted a poll of members of the public which would decide the anthem for the 2010 Games. The three options were "

God Save The Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...

", "Jerusalem" and "Land of Hope and Glory" with "Jerusalem" being the clear winner securing 52% of the vote.

References

External links

* {{Sports governing bodies of the United Kingdom Sports organisations of England 1930 establishments in England