The event was first held in 1930 as the British Empire Games and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 (which were cancelled due to World War II), has successively run every four years since.

Athletes with a disability have been included as full members of their national teams since 2002, making the Commonwealth Games the first fully inclusive international multi-sport event.

A sporting competition bringing together the members of the British Empire was first proposed by John Astley Cooper in 1891, five years before the first modern Olympic Games, who wrote letters and articles for several periodicals suggesting a "Pan Brittanic, Pan Anglican Contest every four years as a means of increasing goodwill and understanding of the British Empire.

"[17] John Astley Cooper Committees were formed in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to promote the idea and inspired Pierre de Coubertin to start the international Olympic Games movement.

[18][19] In 1911, an Inter-Empire Championship was held alongside the Festival of Empire, at The Crystal Palace in London to celebrate the coronation of George V, and were championed by The Earl of Plymouth and Lord Desborough.

[20][21] Teams from Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom competed in events for athletics, boxing, swimming and wrestling.

[22] Canada won the championships and was presented with a silver cup (gifted by Lord Lonsdale) which was 2 feet 6 inches (76 cm) high and weighed 340 ounces (9.6 kg).

They are divided into six regions (Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania) and each has a similar function to the National Olympic Committees in relation with their countries or territories.

Sixteen national teams took part, including new participants Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Southern Rhodesia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Held in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, the III Games opening ceremony took place at the famed Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 40,000 spectators.

Seven sports were featured in the Sydney Games – athletics, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving and wrestling.

The fifth edition of the Games placed Vancouver on a world stage and featured memorable sporting moments as well as outstanding entertainment, technical innovation and cultural events.

Cardiff had to wait twelve years longer than originally scheduled to become host of the Games, as the 1946 event was cancelled because of the Second World War.

Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,122 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games and 23 countries and dependencies won medals, including for the first time, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya and the Isle of Man.

Jersey was among the medal winners for the first time, while British Honduras, Dominica, Papua and New Guinea and St Lucia all made their inaugural Games appearances.

Following the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the tenth games at Christchurch were the first multi-sport event to place the safety of participants and spectators as its uppermost requirement.

The top five countries in the medal standing were Australia, England, Canada, Malaysia (who made their best games' performance until that date) and South Africa.

[62] During the 2007 General Assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) at Colombo, Sri Lanka, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and CGF signed a co-operative agreement to ensure a formal institutional relationship between the two bodies and secure the future participation of elite athletes with a disability (EAD) in future Commonwealth Games.

Covering 230,000 km (150,000 miles) over 388 days, the Baton made its way through the six Commonwealth regions of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

The artistic presentations have grown in scale and complexity as successive hosts attempt to provide a ceremony that outlasts its predecessor's in terms of memorability.

Participated Withdrew for political reason Not eligible to participate To be determined Very few Commonwealth nations and dependencies have yet to take part:[103][104][105] Other inhabited territories and autonomous regions within the Commonwealth, such as Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha (parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), Nevis (a federal entity of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis), Rodrigues (an outer island of Mauritius), and Zanzibar (a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania), are not considered to be separate associated or overseas territories by the Commonwealth[103] and so are unlikely to be eligible.

[112] The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus applied to take part in the 2006 Games, but was rejected due to a lack of international recognition.

[110] The 1934 British Empire Games, originally awarded in 1930 to Johannesburg, were moved to London after South Africa's pre-apartheid government refused to allow participants of colour.

[118][119] On 18 July 2023, the Victorian state government announced it had cancelled its plans to host the games, citing an escalation in its cost projections relative to initial estimations.

[125] The boycotting nations were Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Belize, Cyprus, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Grenada, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Tanzania, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

[135][136] Lawn bowler Willie Wood from Scotland was the first competitor to have competed in seven Commonwealth Games, from 1974 to 2002, a record equalled in 2014 by Isle of Man cyclist Andrew Roche.

Beforehand he represented Fiji in shot put, hammer throw, discus and the decathlon at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch, New Zealand.

[140] Nauruan weightlifter Marcus Stephen won twelve medals at the Games between 1990 and 2002, of which seven gold, and was elected President of Nauru in 2007.

[141] Chad le Clos, South Africa's most decorated swimmer, has won 18 medals from four Commonwealth Games (2010, 2014, 2018 & 2022), seven of which are gold.

[144] At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Australian singer Cody Simpson won a gold medal as a swimmer at the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay.