9/18/2023 0 Comments Traffic cone hat![]() The most commonly used cones reportedly weigh around 17 pounds, and “the result of it falling over 20 feet from the statue’s head could be lethal,” Nisbet says. ![]() “I have been told by one city councilor that the city council was 'worried sick' that someone would be injured if they or a cone fell off the statue,” Gary Nisbet, an amateur art historian and outspoken critic of the coning tradition who runs the website Glasgow Sculpture, tells Mental Floss. For one, they claim, it costs the city lots of money to remove. But in 2007, Steven Purcel-who led the city council from 2005 to 2010-disagreed with Gordon, and called for the cone to stay put.Ĭonflicting views aside, Glasgow’s City Council has provided the public with a variety of reasons for why some of its members have disliked the Duke of Wellington’s irreverent hat. “It is a minor act of vandalism.” That same year, the Glasgow City Council and city police issued a reminder that climbing the statue to place a cone on its head was a "criminal act" that could lead to prosecution. “I don’t like it and perhaps the joke has worn a bit thin,” he said. After all, the humor of the Glasgow people is the city's greatest selling point."Ĭharlie Gordon, who served as the council’s Labour leader in 2005, felt differently. "The image typifies the unique mixture of culture and humor Glasgow has to offer. "The statue of Wellington has become famous for the cone on its head," Mosson said. Some consider the tradition to be cheeky and fun others view it as a crime.įormer Glasgow Lord Provost Alex Mosson, who led the City Council from 1999 until 2003, was a fan: He once reportedly refused to have his photo taken next to the Duke of Wellington until someone placed a traffic cone on his head, and in 2000, he publicly objected when the Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board removed the cone before taking promotional pictures of the landmark. The Duke of Wellington’s cone is popular among Glaswegians (and businesses that profit from its image), but local officials have always had mixed opinions. Sometimes, the horse gets to wear a cone, too. Everyone seemed to love the cone-everyone, that is, except Glasgow’s City Council. ![]() It appeared in a Glasgow Evening Times TV advertising campaign it graced postcards and T-shirts and tourists could even purchase traffic cone-shaped hats. Once a symbol of British sovereignty, the be-coned statue became emblematic of Glasgow’s quirky spirit, and of residents’ refusal to take authority figures-and themselves-too seriously.Īs the years went by, the Duke and his cone became so famous that local businesses, organizations, and media outlets began adopting the figure as an unofficial mascot. But over time, the “cone-ing" tradition took on a life of its own. At first, the mischievous act was simply viewed as a playful prank. Sometimes, the Duke’s horse even had a single cone hanging off each ear, or a cone dangled off the Duke's sword. The custom stuck, and soon it became normal to see the Duke of Wellington wearing a pointy orange hat. City Council maintenance staffers suddenly found themselves engaged in a never-ending war with pranksters, who, without fail, would always replace the vanished cone with a new one. ![]() Officials made sure that the cone was removed, but eventually, it popped back on again. Someone-likely an inebriated reveler, enjoying a night out on the town-scaled the 21-foot monument with an orange traffic cone and placed it directly on the statue's head. But sometime during the 1980s, the fusty figure received an irreverent makeover. For over a century, the metal military hero sat placidly astride his horse, a sword at his side, in the center of Royal Exchange Square. Arthur Wellesley, the famed Anglo-Irish military strategist and politician who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and served twice as Britain’s prime minister. In 1844, the city of Glasgow erected a bronze sculpture of the Duke of Wellington, a.k.a. ![]()
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