A loyal toast is a salute given to the sovereign monarch or head of state of the country in which a formal gathering is being given, or by expatriates of that country, whether or not the particular head of state is present. It is usually a matter of protocol at state and military occasions, and a display of patriotic sentiment at civilian events. The toast is usually initiated and recited by the host before being repeated by the assembled guests in unison; the composition varying between regions and types of gathering. There is sometimes a tradition of smashing a glass used for a loyal toast, so that no lesser toast can be made with it.
A formal occasion at St John's College, Cambridge, where, beneath the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, the loyal toast would be given.
A dinner hosted by John Craig Eaton at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto in 1919; the loyal toast would have been given to King George V.
Royal Navy officers in a wardroom seated toasting the King, from a series titled 'The Royal Navy during the Second World War'.
A toast is a ritual during which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening", for whom someone "proposes a toast" to congratulate and for whom a third person "toasts" in agreement. The ritual forms the basis of the literary and performance genre, of which Mark Twain's "To the Babies" is a well-known example.
Wayne Swan, Barack Obama and Julia Gillard toast at a dinner at Parliament House in 2011
Five Swedish men toasting (c. 1900)
Celebratory drinks for the end of World War II
A bride offering a toast at a wedding