大英帝國的領土巔峰

大英帝國始於 16 世紀末至 18 世紀初英格蘭的海外定居點和貿易站。在鼎盛時期，它是歷史上最大的帝國。到 1913 年，大英帝國的面積為 3550 萬平方公里（佔行星陸地總面積的 24%）。1920 年，帝國人口超過 4.13 億（佔世界人口的 23%）。

大英帝國的領土巔峰（1921 年）

大英帝國在其領土頂峰時，幾乎覆蓋了與月球相同的表面積。

下面的地圖顯示了以 1:60,000,000 的統一比例繪製的大英帝國國家

在 1910 年展示超大英屬殖民地旗幟的宣傳地圖下方，這張地圖人為地增加了大英帝國的明顯影響力和存在感。

上圖的下方的文字說明翻譯為：

The flags of a free empire, showing the emblems of British power throughout the world

自由帝國的旗幟，展示了英國在全世界的權力標誌

“This picture helps us to understand the wonderful way in which the British Empire is established throughout the world. But it helps us to realise something more. The flag that flies over the British Isles in the centre of the picture is the Union Jack, under which no slave can breathe; and it is a fine thing, of which we may be rightly proud, that the sun never sets upon the Union Jack. But the flags that wave over other parts of the empire have all another sign stamped on the Union Jack, which means generally that these places, though they are loyal to the British flag, have a nationality or government of their own. Great Britain has built up a great empire, because, wherever her influence has gone, she has planted the seeds of freedom, and because, as soon as a British colony is able to govern itself, the power to govern is given to it. So that the separate flags mean that the places over which they fly are separate colonies, under the protection of the British flag.”

“這張照片幫助我們瞭解大英帝國在全世界建立的奇妙方式。但它可以幫助我們實現更多的東西。圖片中央的不列顛群島上空飄揚的旗幟是英國國旗，沒有奴隸可以呼吸；太陽永遠不會落在英國國旗上，這是一件好事，我們可能會為此感到自豪。但是，在帝國其他地區揮舞的旗幟上都印有英國國旗上的所有其他標誌，這意味著這些地方雖然忠於英國國旗，但擁有自己的國籍或政府。英國建立了一個偉大的帝國，因為她的影響所到之處，都播下了自由的種子，因為一旦英國殖民地能夠自我治理，治理的權力就被賦予了它。因此，單獨的旗幟意味著它們飛越的地方是單獨的殖民地，受英國國旗的保護。”

“It is not possible to show all parts of the empire or all the flags in their proper places, and it should be carefully noted that the actual empire, marked red, is represented on this map by the flag-staff and not by the flag itself. The flags have their staffs fixed into t ie places to which they belong so that it is the place where the flag-staff is fixed that belongs to the British Empire. Many small places have flags that are not shown in this map, and in the cases of Canada and Australia, only the federal flags are shown, the flags of the separate parts being along the top and bottom. In many other cases, also, where flags cannot be put in their proper position in such a small space as this, the flags are shown along the borders of the map. The colours of the emblems are not given here, and some of the emblems are shown much larger on the flag than they really are. Some of them are explained briefly in notes appearing on page 1118.”

“不可能在適當的位置顯示帝國的所有部分或所有旗幟，應該注意的是，實際的帝國，標記為紅色，在這張地圖上由旗杆而不是由國旗代表本身。國旗的旗杆被固定在它們所屬的地方，因此旗杆被固定的地方屬於大英帝國。許多小地方都有國旗沒有在這張地圖中顯示，在加拿大和澳大利亞的情況下，只顯示了聯邦國旗，單獨部分的旗幟沿著頂部和底部。在許多其他情況下，在如此小的空間中無法將旗幟放置在適當位置的情況下，旗幟會沿著地圖的邊界顯示。這裡沒有給出標誌的顏色，有些標誌在旗幟上顯示的比實際大得多。其中一些在出現在第 1118 頁的註釋中進行了簡要解釋。”

大英帝國興衰動畫地圖