What does the quote, "The sun never sets on the British Empire" mean?

Question

Was it refering to how big the British Empire was geographically?

Answer 1

Yes. At the time the British empire was present in virtually every time zone from Malaya on one side of the globe to Jamaica on the other.

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

That quote came out during the height of British Imperialism. The British had expanded their empire to include settlements all over the globe, so it could be argued that the sun was always shining in one part of the British empire because the sun was always shining on at least one part of the earth. So, since the sun was always shining on at least one colony of the empire, it never "set" on the empire as a whole.

In case you don't know, imperialism is "the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies." (Dictionary.com)

Answer 4

The sun never set in British Empire because sun don't trust British in dark 😁😁😁

Answer 5

It meant that the empire was so expansive that at any time of the given day the British had a colony or protectorate that would have the sun out.

Answer 6

It was referring to how widespread the British Empire was. Since it stretched all the way from Canada to India, the idea was that at any time, it was still daylight somewhere in the British Empire.

Answer 7

What does the qoute mean... not much today.

What did it mean?

The British conquered and occupied countries around the globe so the sun was shining on "British Territory" somewhere on the planet t all times.

And it amazes me how they are quick to point fingers are other nations who have aspirations of expansion.



g-day!

Answer 8

Precisely - the idea was that any time in the UK the sun was shining in some far flung part of the empire.

Answer 9

the British empire had colonies all around the world. it was always daytime somewhere in it.