From the Archives (September 1, 1970): Fiji prepares for independence

Prince Charles will represent Queen Elizabeth at Fiji’s independence celebrations in October. Royal assent has been given to the Bill providing for Fiji’s independence on October 10, the 96th anniversary of the cession of the islands to Queen Victoria. Warm feelings of goodwill to Fiji and its people were expressed during debates on the Bill in both Houses of the British Parliament. It has been decided that October 10 will be known as Independence Day and not Dominion Day. The Independence Celebration Committee has decided against a midnight ceremony of lowering the Union Jack and raising the new national flag. Instead, it has proposed that the Union Jack will be lowered at sunset on October 9 at a ceremony of Beating the Retreat by the Fiji military forces. The new flag will be ceremonially hoisted throughout Fiji on October 10 at 10 a.m. To mark Independence, every child in Fiji will receive a medallion. It will bear a replica of the Queen’s head on one side and the Dominion Coat of Arms on the other. The Suva Indian Chamber of Commerce has initiated three projects to mark Independence. They are the setting up of a fund by the Indian business community to be known as the Prime Minister’s Fund; erection of a monumental clock tower in the capital, Suva; and a gift of 51 dollars to the first Fiji citizen born at the biggest hospital in Suva, after the raising of the new national flag on October 10.