1.
Commonwealth of Nations
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The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the 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 states as free. The symbol of free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, the other Commonwealth members have different heads of state,31 members are republics and five are monarchies with a different monarch. Member states have no obligation to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their values of democracy, free speech, human rights. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2, 20% of the worlds land area, and spans all six inhabited continents. She declared, So, it marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. As long ago as 1884, however, Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire—as some of its colonies became more independent—as a Commonwealth of Nations. Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, the Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. Newfoundland never did, as on 16 February 1934, with the consent of its parliament, Newfoundland later joined Canada as its 10th province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively, after World War II ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, there remain the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word British was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature, burma and Aden are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, however, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a role of the British Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britains withdrawal from Greece in 1947 painfully demonstrated, Britain itself was now just one part of the NATO military alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada
2.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
3.
Officer (armed forces)
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An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. In this sense, officers are not enlisted, but hold appointments from their government that typically remain in force indefinitely unless resigned, the proportion of officers varies greatly. Officers typically make up between an eighth and a fifth of modern armed forces personnel, in 2013, officers were the senior 17% of the British armed forces, and the senior 13. 7% of the French armed forces. In 2012, officers made up about 18% of the German armed forces, historically, however, armed forces have generally had much lower proportions of officers. During the First World War, fewer than 5% of British soldiers were officers, in the early twentieth century, the Spanish army had the highest proportion of officers of any European army, at 12. 5%. Within a nations armed forces, armies tend to have a proportion of officers. For example,13. 9% of British army personnel and 22. 2% of the RAF personnel were officers in 2013, having officers is one requirement for combatant status under the laws of war, though these officers need not have obtained an official commission or warrant. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in an armed forces environment, a superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior. Non-commissioned officers in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se, many advanced militaries require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. In the Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel, the IDF often sponsors the studies for its majors, while aircrew and naval officers obtain academic degrees as a part of their training programmes. In the United Kingdom, there are three routes of entry for British Armed Forces officers, the first, and primary route are those who receive their commission directly into the officer grades following completion at their relevant military academy. The third route is similar to the second, in that they convert from an enlisted to a commission, but these are taken from the highest ranks of SNCOs. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queens Commission, generally work in different roles from the DE officers, in the infantry, a number of Warrant Officer Class 1s are commissioned as LE officers. For Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officer candidates, a 30-week period at Britannia Royal Naval College or a 30-week period at RAF College Cranwell, Royal Marines officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines during a grueling 15-month course. The courses consist of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management, etiquette, until the Cardwell Reforms of 1871, commissions in the British Army were purchased by officers. The Royal Navy, however, operated on a more meritocratic, or at least socially mobile, AOCS also also included the embedded Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate and Naval Aviation Cadet programs. NAVCADs were personnel who held associates degrees, but lacked bachelors degrees, nAVCADs would complete the entire AOCS program, but would not be commissioned until completion of flight training and receiving their wings. After their initial tour, they would be assigned to a college or university full-time for no more than two years in order to complete their bachelors degree
4.
Temple of Athena Nike
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The Temple of Athena Nike is a temple on the Acropolis of Athens. It was named after the Greek goddess, Athena Nike, built around 420BC, the temple is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis. It was a prominent position on a bastion at the south west corner of the Acropolis to the right of the entrance. In contrast to the Acropolis proper, a walled sanctuary entered through the Propylaea, the Victory Sanctuary was open, entered from the Propylaeas southwest wing and from a narrow stair on the north. The sheer walls of its bastion were protected on the north, west, Nike means victory in Greek, and Athena was worshipped in this form, as goddess of victory in war and wisdom. The citizens worshipped the goddess in hope of an outcome in the long Peloponnesian War fought on land and sea against the Spartans. In the sixth century BCE a cult of Athena Nike was established, after the temple was demolished by the Persians in 480 BCE a new temple was built over the remains. The new temple construction was underway in 449 BCE and was finished around 420 BCE, the temple sat untouched until it was demolished in 1686 by the Turks who used the stones to build defences. In 1834 the temple was reconstructed after the independence of Greece, in 1998 the temple was dismantled so that the crumbling concrete floor could be replaced and its frieze was removed and placed in the new Acropolis Museum that opened in 2009. The Temple of Athena Nike is often closed to visitors as work continues, the new museum exhibit consists of fragments of the site before the Persians were thought to have destroyed it in 480 BCE. The Temple of Athena Nike was finished around 420 BC, during the Peace of Nicias and it is a tetrastyle Ionic structure with a colonnaded portico at both front and rear facades, designed by the architect Kallikrates. The columns along the east and west fronts were monolithic columns, the temple ran 27 feet long by 18 and a half feet wide and 23 feet tall. The total height from the stylobate to the acme of the pediment while the temple remained intact was a modest 23 feet. The ratio of height to diameter of the columns is 7,1, constructed from white Pentelic marble, it was built in stages as war-starved funding allowed. The famous frieze of Athena adjusting her sandal is an example of Wet drapery, Wet drapery involves showing the form of the body but also concealing the body with the drapery of the clothing. Some friezes are from the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, the friezes contained a cavalry scene from the battle of Marathon and a Greek victory over the Persians at the battle of Plataea. The battles represent Greek and Athenian dominance through military power and historical events, a statue of Nike stood in the cella, or otherwise referred to as a naos. Nike was originally the winged victory goddess, the friezes of the buildings entablature were decorated on all sides with relief sculpture in the idealized classical style of the 5th century BC
5.
Hawk
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Hawks are a group of medium-sized diurnal birds of prey of the family Accipitridae which are widely distributed and varying greatly in size. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, the sharp-shinned hawk and these are mainly woodland birds with long tails and high visual acuity, hunting by sudden dashes from a concealed perch. In the Americas, members of the Buteo group are also called hawks, generally buteos have broad wings and sturdy builds. They are relatively larger winged, shorter-tailed and soar more extensively in areas than accipiters. The terms accipitrine hawk and buteonine hawk may be used to distinguish the two types, in regions where hawk applies to both, the term true hawk is sometimes used for the accipitrine hawks, in regions where buzzard is preferred for the buteonine hawks. All these groups are members of the Accipitridae family, which includes the hawks and buzzards as well as kites, harriers, some authors use hawk generally for any small to medium Accipitrid that is not an eagle. The common names of birds include the term hawk, reflecting traditional usage rather than taxonomy. Falconry was also called hawking, and any bird used for falconry could be referred to as a hawk, aristotle listed eleven types of ἱέρακες, aisalōn, asterias, hypotriorchēs, kirkos, leios, perkos, phassophonos, phrynologos, pternis, spizias, and triorchēs. Pliny numbered sixteen kinds of hawks, but named only aigithos, epileios, kenchrēïs, kybindis, the accipitrine hawks generally take birds as their primary prey. They have also been called hen-hawks, or wood-hawks because of their woodland habitat, the subfamily Accipitrinae contains Accipiter, it also contains genera Micronisus, Urotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. Melierax may be included in the subfamily, or given a subfamily of its own, erythrotriorchis is traditionally included in Accipitrinae, but is possibly a convergent genus from an unrelated group. The Buteo group includes genera Buteo, Parabuteo, Geranoetus, members of this group have also been called hawk-buzzards. Proposed new genera Morphnarchus, Rupornis, and Pseudastur are formed from members of Buteo, the Buteogallus group are also called hawks, with the exception of the solitary eagles. Buteo is the genus of the subfamily Buteoninae. Traditionally this subfamily also includes eagles and sea-eagles, lerner and Mindell proposed placing those into separate subfamilies, leaving just the buteonine hawks/buzzards in Buteoninae. In February 2005, the Canadian ornithologist Louis Lefebvre announced a method of measuring avian IQ in terms of their innovation in feeding habits, Hawks were named among the most intelligent birds based on his scale. Hawks have four types of receptors in the eye. These give birds the ability to not only the visible range but also the ultraviolet part of the spectrum
6.
Laurel wreath
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A laurel wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel, an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butchers broom or cherry laurel. In Greek mythology, Apollo is represented wearing a wreath on his head. Whereas ancient laurel wreaths are most often depicted as a horseshoe shape, in common modern idiomatic usage it refers to a victory. In some countries the laurel wreath is used as a symbol of the masters degree, the wreath is given to young masters at the university graduation ceremony. The word laureate in poet laureate refers to the laurel wreath, the medieval Florentine poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri, a graduate of the Sicilian School, is often represented in paintings and sculpture wearing a laurel wreath. In Italy, the term laureato is used in to refer to any student who has graduated, right after the graduation ceremony, or laurea in Italian, the student receives a laurel wreath to wear for the rest of the day. This tradition originated at the University of Padua and has spread in the last two centuries to all Italian universities, at Connecticut College in the United States, members of the junior class carry a laurel chain, which the seniors pass through during commencement. It represents nature and the continuation of life from year to year, at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, laurel has been a fixture of commencement traditions since 1900, when graduating students carried or wore laurel wreaths. In 1902, the chain of laurel was introduced, since then, tradition has been for seniors to parade around the campus, carrying. The mountain laurel represents the bay used by the Romans in wreaths. At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, United States, members of the senior class receive laurel wreaths upon submitting their senior thesis in May, the tradition stems from the use of laurel wreaths in athletic competitions, the seniors have crossed the finish line, so to speak. In Sweden, those receiving a doctorate or a doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy. In Finland, in University of Helsinki a laurel wreath is given during the ceremony of conferral for masterss degree, doctors wear special kind of Doctoral hat. The laurel wreath is a motif in architecture, furniture. The laurel wreath is seen carved in the stone and decorative works of Robert Adam, and in Federal, Regency, Directoire. In decorative arts, especially during the Empire period, the wreath is seen woven in textiles, inlaid in marquetry. Alfa Romeo added a wreath to their logo after they won the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925 with the P2 racing car. Laurel wreaths are used in heraldry
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