The post read: “The United Kingdom of Pakistan. We are all watching the end of England in real time.” It included a video of the abbey with the Pakistani flag on a pole above one of the towers.
The video was captioned: “Pakistans (sic) flag has been raised on the Westminster Abbey, replacing the British flag on the 1000 year old church. Conquered without firing a single shot.”
The video in the post is an accurate representation of a tradition that dates back many years but is not specific to Pakistan, and is decided by Westminster Abbey staff.
Several Commonwealth flags have been flown over the church building in recent years to tie in with a country’s high commission being represented at the evensong service.
The country’s national day is celebrated on March 23. On its website, the Pakistan high commission in London said: “Each year, the Westminster Abbey invites the high commission to a special evensong on Pakistan Day to pray for the nation, its leaders, and people.”
Press releases on the high commission’s website also shows that a similar event took place in 2023, 2022, and 2021. There are contemporary reports of the same happening in 2019, 2018, and 2017.
Westminster Abbey’s website says: “A national flag is flown on the day when the high commission of a Commonwealth member state is represented at evensong.” Pakistan rejoined the Commonwealth in 1989.
