While this successful movement toward Imperial Federation was going
on, the organization of the League of Empire had been formed (1901) to
cooperate with it and strengthen it.
The League is nonpolitical and nonsectarian. It aims to unite the
different parts of the Imperial Federation by intellectual and moral
bonds. It appeals to the whole body of the people of the Empire, but
it deals especially with the children in the schools. It endeavors to
educate them in the duties of citizenship, and it calls on them to
salute the national flag as the symbol of patriotism, of unity, and of
loyalty. A little later, Empire Day was established (1904) as a
public holiday to help forward the work of the League. King Edward
gave it his hearty encouragement, and it is celebrated throughout the
British Isles and the self-governing colonies of the Imperial
Federation.