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For more than four decades, an image synonymous with Glasgow has been the statue of the Duke of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), famously adorned with a traffic cone perched atop its head. This quirky tradition is believed to have begun in the 1980s by students returning from nights out. The statue itself, crafted by Italian artist Carlo Marochetti and erected in 1844, commemorates the Duke’s triumph over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and features him mounted on his horse, Copenhagen.
Over the years, the relationship between the city council and local residents regarding the cone has been contentious. Despite repeated removals of the cone by authorities, it persistently reappeared, much to the frustration of the council. Efforts to curb the practice, including attempts to increase the height of the statue’s plinth to prevent the cone from being placed, ultimately failed. The cone has since transcended its beginnings, turning into an emblematic symbol of Glasgow culture, even drawing praise from renowned street artist Banksy, who called it his “favourite” artwork.
When Scottish football fans, known as the Tartan Army, visited Boston, they found the statues there devoid of cones. Inspired by the Glasgow tradition, the Tartan Army began adorning Boston’s statues similarly, a move that delighted local residents and cemented cultural ties — notably commemorated by the gifting of a signed cone from Glasgow to Boston. However, the reception back home in Scotland has been mixed. In Edinburgh, statues including the city’s own Duke of Wellington and figures such as Adam Smith and David Hume have been spotted sporting plastic crowns or cones. Edinburgh city councillor Jo Mowatt expressed disapproval, describing the practice as making statues look “undignified” and saying, “I think I would much rather it stayed the other side of the M8.”
The trend of placing cones on statues has extended beyond Glasgow and Edinburgh. In Dumfries, a Robert Burns statue was humorously “crowned” to shield the poet from heat, while in Inverness, a sculpture of the Loch Ness Monster also found itself sporting cones. This phenomenon has sparked commercial opportunities as well, with festival-goers at Glasgow’s TRNSMT sporting felt cone hats, and visitors to GoMA able to purchase cone-themed souvenir merchandise. The upcoming Commonwealth Games mascot, Finnie the unicorn, will even wear a traffic cone, highlighting the iconography’s widespread embrace.
Alistair Heather, a historian and tour guide, reflected on how the image has evolved over time. He noted that the cone originally symbolized a playful conflict between the people and local authorities, but became over-commercialized and lost its edge around the time of the 2014 Commonwealth Games when corporate use of the image became prevalent. Despite this, Heather observes a renewed sense of affection for the cone as a folk icon, particularly fueled by the Tartan Army during football tournaments. He commented, “I’ve fallen right back in love with it as a folk image,” and expressed hope to continue the tradition by “cone[ing] London next time we play at Wembley.”
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