At the Ceremony

[hamalt66]

Have some questions regarding the ceremony below, and would appreciate your answers if you have just been to one:

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

2) How to decide which one to choose?

3) Will we be reading the whole oath, or will an official from the council be reading it to us and we just say "I/we swear?"

4) If we will be reading the whole oath paragraph, do we have to remember it by heart or can we bring it printed on a paper to read from?

5) Will we sing the national anthem, or will it be played on a sound system?

Any further information will be highly appreciated.

[parabola5552]

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

One is religious (oath), the other is not.

2) How to decide which one to choose?

Personal choice, there is no difference in the end.

3) Will we be reading the whole oath, or will an official from the council be reading it to us and we just say "I/we swear?"

The person will ask you to repeat after them. Think of it as like a marriage ceremony, same principle. Do not have to remember anything.

5) Will we sing the national anthem, or will it be played on a sound system?

No singinging was involved in mine. There was no anthem played. Just a photo of the queen was present

[hamalt66]

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

One is religious (oath), the other is not.

2) How to decide which one to choose?

Personal choice, there is no difference in the end.

3) Will we be reading the whole oath, or will an official from the council be reading it to us and we just say "I/we swear?"

The person will ask you to repeat after them. Think of it as like a marriage ceremony, same principle. Do not have to remember anything.

5) Will we sing the national anthem, or will it be played on a sound system?

No singinging was involved in mine. There was no anthem played. Just a photo of the queen was present

Many thanks for your feedback. I wonder if this is the same across all councils.

I once read somewhere that there will be singing of the national anthem, but not sure if it was supposed to be sung along a tape that will be playing, or we needed to sing it ourselves.

Maybe it's different from council to council!

[parabola5552]

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

One is religious (oath), the other is not.

2) How to decide which one to choose?

Personal choice, there is no difference in the end.

3) Will we be reading the whole oath, or will an official from the council be reading it to us and we just say "I/we swear?"

The person will ask you to repeat after them. Think of it as like a marriage ceremony, same principle. Do not have to remember anything.

5) Will we sing the national anthem, or will it be played on a sound system?

No singinging was involved in mine. There was no anthem played. Just a photo of the queen was present

Many thanks for your feedback. I wonder if this is the same across all councils.

I once read somewhere that there will be singing of the national anthem, but not sure if it was supposed to be sung along a tape that will be playing, or we needed to sing it ourselves.

Maybe it's different from council to council!

Mine was in Sheffield if that helps at all

[hamalt66]

Many thanks parabola5552, much appreciated

[guru1s]

Have some questions regarding the ceremony below, and would appreciate your answers if you have just been to one:

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

2) How to decide which one to choose?

Try to guess what a majority chooses, as you will be reading it aloud with all who has chosen the same

[hamalt66]

Have some questions regarding the ceremony below, and would appreciate your answers if you have just been to one:

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

2) How to decide which one to choose?

Try to guess what a majority chooses, as you will be reading it aloud with all who has chosen the same

I am planning on a private ceremony

[secret.simon]

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

One is an oath in the name of a deity or God (I swear that...). The other is a non-theistic (no reference to a deity or God) affirmation (I, do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that...).

2) How to decide which one to choose?

Entirely a matter of personal choice and conscience. People who tend to go for affirmation are generally followers of religions that forbid swearing in the name of God or of a non-theistic religion (such as Buddhism) or of no religion.

Both an oath and affirmation have the same legal consequences.

You will of course face similar choices if you were to be called as a witness in a court, for example.

3) Will we be reading the whole oath, or will an official from the council be reading it to us and we just say "I/we swear?"

As mentioned above, you will repeat after the official.

4) If we will be reading the whole oath paragraph, do we have to remember it by heart or can we bring it printed on a paper to read from?

At my council ceremony a few years ago, we were given a laminated printout to read from.

5) Will we sing the national anthem, or will it be played on a sound system?

We sang it at ours. An Australian and I were the only ones at the ceremony that I attended to know the words by heart. The rest read it off the laminated printout.

If you are becoming a citizen, I suggest that learning the national anthem is desirable. There are Youtube karaoke videos that you can practice with.

[hamalt66]

1) What is the difference between Oath of allegiance and Affirmation of allegiance?

One is an oath in the name of a deity or God (I swear that...). The other is a non-theistic (no reference to a deity or God) affirmation (I, do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that...).

2) How to decide which one to choose?

Entirely a matter of personal choice and conscience. People who tend to go for affirmation are generally followers of religions that forbid swearing in the name of God or of a non-theistic religion (such as Buddhism) or of no religion.

Both an oath and affirmation have the same legal consequences.

You will of course face similar choices if you were to be called as a witness in a court, for example.

3) Will we be reading the whole oath, or will an official from the council be reading it to us and we just say "I/we swear?"

As mentioned above, you will repeat after the official.

4) If we will be reading the whole oath paragraph, do we have to remember it by heart or can we bring it printed on a paper to read from?

At my council ceremony a few years ago, we were given a laminated printout to read from.

5) Will we sing the national anthem, or will it be played on a sound system?

We sang it at ours. An Australian and I were the only ones at the ceremony that I attended to know the words by heart. The rest read it off the laminated printout.

If you are becoming a citizen, I suggest that learning the national anthem is desirable. There are Youtube karaoke videos that you can practice with.

Thank you Simon, much appreciated indeed