What does the phrase "The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire" really mean???

Answer 1

It used to mean because England had colonies all around the world that it was always daytime on one of them.

Answer 2

In parts, the phrase, "the sun never sets on the British Empire" meant that no matter where the sun sets, a part of the British empire would still be in sunlight because of its geographic size but the phrase is also a tribute to the might of the British empire for it was once thought that the British Empire would not crumble but this point is now in dispute for many people now do not consider former colonies as a part of the British empire. The first point would be the main explaination for the phrase used today.

Answer 3

What it means is that the British empire was once so large that there was always a country that had day light when other countries were in darkness. For example New Zea land and Australia were part of the British Empire and so was Canada. Britain is where you message Greenwich meantime, New Zealand starts the day before most countries world wide, and Canada is one of the last countries to start a new day. So on New Years day, New Zealand day is coming to an end, when Canada is just about to begin its. So that is why the sun used to not set on the British Empire, and why you get that saying.

Answer 4

Long ago, when `British empire` stood, the term the sun never sets on the British empire. It was on a World scale.

Answer 5

If the sun set on the British Empire it would get really hot and burn up. So, since the British Empire never burned up because the sun set on it, we infer that the sun never sat on the British Empire.
It's one of those logic sayings for really smart people.

Answer 6

Basically it means that there were parts of the Empire in all sections of the world, so there was never a time of day when the sun wasn't shining on some part of the Empire. By the time the sun set on one colony, it had risen on another.

Answer 7

The Sun set on the British Empire decades ago.

The "British Empire" today consists of forgotten countries loosely connected by pledging allegiance to a queen.

Answer 8

The British ruled the world because they built sail ships and conquered and installed colonies in most continents on the planet. The Sun never sets on the BritishEmpire because they have colonized enough places that somewhere a British Colony exists.

Answer 9

Kokopeli is correct!
The British empire once stretched to the four corners of the earth!
So technically The sun was always shining on at least one quadrant of it at one particular point in time!
Hope this clarifies the situation somewhat?

Answer 10

at its peak, the British empire was so huge that at any given hour of the day, the sun was shining somewhere in the British empire, the China's, the Mediterranean

Answer 11

It's a cross between the daylight answerers and that they thought the British Empire would never crumble.