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TheKing's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of theCommonwealth Games. The baton carries a message from theHead of the Commonwealth, currentlyKing Charles III. The relay traditionally begins atBuckingham Palace inLondon, where the King entrusts the baton to the first relay runner. At the opening ceremony of the Games, the final relay runner hands the torch back to the King or his representative, who reads the message aloud to officially open the Games. The King's Baton Relay is similar to theOlympic Torch Relay.[1]
Started as theQueen's Baton Relay for the1958 Games, the relay has been included in every games ever since. Following thedeath of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, King Charles III became the Head of the Commonwealth, leading to the relay being renamed as theKing's Baton Relay for the2026 Commonwealth Games.[2]
At theinaugural games, held in 1930 inHamilton,Ontario, a message from KingGeorge V was read to the competitors. In 1936,Australian runner Rowley Bateman proposed a relay fromCanberra toSydney carrying a goodwill message for the1938 Sydney games. A baton relay fromMountain Ash toPontypridd to commemorate the centenary of the Welsh national anthem was organised in 1956 by athletics officialBernard Baldwin, who proposed something similar for the finale of the Commonwealth Games.[3] Baldwin later founded the traditional New Year's Eve race 'Nos Galan' in Mountain Ash.
The Relay has been involved in every games since the1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games inCardiff,Wales. The Relay for the1998 Games inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia was the first to incorporate a more expansive relay to other nations of the Commonwealth. The2002 Commonwealth Games Relay covered over 100,000 kilometres (62,000 miles) and went through 23 nations.[1]
Rather than beginning at Buckingham Palace, the 1970 relay began in atYellowknife inCanada'sNorthwest Territories before the baton was flown toScotland.[3]
| Year | Relay | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | The 1958 silver-gilt and enamel baton was designed by Cardiff jeweller and former soldier, ColonelRoy Crouch, Chairman of the Games' Medals Committee. Measuring 40 cm (16 in) in length and 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) in diameter, it was decorated with Welsh national symbols, namely a red dragon, daffodils and leeks, along with crowns representing the royal connection. On 14 July 1958, the baton relay set off from the forecourt of London's Buckingham Palace, the residence of Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, before travelling through severalEnglish counties and all thirteenWelsh counties on its journey to Cardiff. | |
| 1962 | ||
| 1966 | ||
| 1970 | ||
| 1974 | ||
| 1978 | ||
| 1982 | ||
| 1986 | ||
| 1990 | For the1990 Commonwealth Games, the baton was a two-piece affair. Each piece went on its own individual relay run in the North and South Islands of New Zealand, only being joined back together in the final week before the Games began. | |
| 1994 | For the1994 Commonwealth Games, the Baton was fashioned from sterling silver and was engraved with traditional symbols of the creative artists' families and cultures, including a wolf, a raven and an eagle with a frog in its mouth. | |
| 1998 | For the1998 Commonwealth Games, Malaysia gave their own flavour to the Games. On opening ceremony night the Queen's Baton began its journey to the stadium by elephant. The baton was presented toPrince Edward by Malaysia's 1950 Commonwealth weightlifting gold medallistKoh Eng Tong. The Baton design was inspired by a traditional Malay artifact, the 'Gobek', which is a unique cylindrical areca nut-pounder widely used and displayed in Malay homes. The baton was produced by a local company,Mariwasa Kraftangan Sdn Bhd, using pure silver with gold trimming. It left Buckingham Palace on 9 March 1998.[4][5] | |
| 2002 | The2002 Queen's Baton Relay (also known as Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay) was launched onCommonwealth Day, 11 March 2002, on the historic forecourt atBuckingham Palace. The baton traveled almost 59,000 miles via 23 commonwealth nations and territories over 87 days before opening the games on 25 July 2002.Cadbury was the presenting partner of the relay and sponsor of the games.[6] The Baton was designed by a company calledIDEO and was constructed of machined aluminium with the handle plated for conductivity. It weighed1.69 kg (3+3⁄4 lb), reaches over 710 mm (28 in), and is42.5 to 85 mm (1+3⁄4 to3+1⁄4 in) in diameter. The Queen's message itself was held in an aluminium capsule inserted into the top of the Baton. On either side of the Baton were two sterling silver coins, designed byMappin and Webb, which celebrated the City ofManchester as host of the XVII Commonwealth Games.[7]It arrived at theCity of Manchester Stadium carried by AerialistLindsey Butcher who descended to pass the baton to heptathon championDenise Lewis. The baton was eventually presented to the Queen byDavid Beckham accompanied byKirsty Howard who had been born with a rare heart condition. | |
| 2006 | The2006 Queen's Baton Relay was the world's longest, most inclusive relay, travelling more than 180,000 kilometres (110,000 miles) and visiting all 71 nations that then sent teams to the Commonwealth Games[a] in one year and a day. The Queen's Baton Relay started, as it traditionally does, at Buckingham Palace and ended inMelbourne,Australia at theMelbourne Cricket Ground. It carried a message fromthe Queen to theOpening Ceremony of theCommonwealth Games.Fremantle Dockers CaptainMatthew Pavlich carried the baton through Fremantle, he received the baton from community nominee and local businessmanPeter Taliangis. The baton contained 71 lights on the front, representing the 71 member nations of the Commonwealth Games Federation. A video camera built into the front of the baton recorded continuously as the baton travelled, and aGPS tracker was fitted, so that the baton's location could be viewed live on the Commonwealth Games Website. The front face of the baton contained the detachable Queen's Message Button. The Button is a digital storage device, onto which the Queen's Message to the Athletes of the XVIII Commonwealth Games was encoded.[8] | |
| 2010 | The2010 Queen's Baton Relay began as the Baton left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009, travelling throughout the 70 nations of the Commonwealth, reaching India on 25 June 2010 by crossing throughWagah fromPakistan. When the baton relay began at Buckingham Palace, the then-President of India,Pratibha Patil, was present. The Final Baton RunnerSushil Kumar handed over the baton toPrince Charles, who with President Pratibha Patil opened the Games.[9] The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of theNational Institute of Design. Made from aluminium twisted into ahelix, it was coated with soils from the various regions of India, and held the Queen's message (printed on an 18 caratgold leaf, representing gold's qualities and symbolism of power in India) within a jeweled box. The baton also incorporated a video camera and microphone,LED lighting (which set its color scheme to match the flag of the nation it was travelling through), andGPS tracking. | |
| 2014 | The2014 Queen's Baton Relay began its 190,000 km (120,000 mi) journey on 9 October 2013. The baton traveled via 70 nations and territories over 288 days before opening the games on 23 July 2014. At theceremony, 32 inspiring volunteers from across Scotland carried the baton around Celtic Park Stadium after being nominated for giving their time to developing the nation's youth through sport. The baton was then passed to SirChris Hoy, who delivered it toPresident of the Commonwealth Games FederationPrince Imran and the Queen who then declared the Games open. The BBC provided coverage of the relay.[10] AdventurerMark Beaumont presented a series of documentaries filmed on the relay forBBC One Scotland, there were also weekly updates forBBC News and a BBC News website and blog written by Mark. The product design consultancy awarded the contract to the design of the 2014 Queen's Baton is a local Glasgow company called 4c Design.[11] 4c Design wanted the 2014 baton to be true to the original intentions of the first relay and so wanted to focus the design around the Queen's handwritten message. Also rather than using cutting edge electronics, they choose to focus on cutting edge manufacturing. This all culminated in the Queen's message being internally illuminated to hint at the secret within, then surrounded by a titanium lattice framework that was grown using the latest additive manufacturing technology. At the top is a puzzle mechanism that dispenses granite gemstones to each of the Commonwealth nations and territories the baton visits, inviting them to join Glasgow at the Games. The puzzle mechanism also has a second function of keeping the message safely locked away until the opening ceremony, where the second stage of the puzzle will be unveiled. The handle of the Queen's Baton is made of Elm wood which came from theIsle of Cumbrae in Scotland. The Elm tree was felled by a local man called David Stevenson in the grounds of theGarrison House and the baton itself is crafted using an old boat building technique called bird mouthing. | |
| 2018 | The2018 Queen's Baton Relay was launched onCommonwealth Day, 13 March 2017, on the historic forecourt atBuckingham Palace, signalling the official countdown to the start of the Games. Accompanied by theDuke of Edinburgh andPrince Edward The Earl of Wessex, Her MajestyQueen Elizabeth II heralded the start of the relay by placing her 'message to the Commonwealth and its athletes' into the distinctive loop-design Queen's Baton which then set off on its journey around the globe. It traveled for 388 days, spending time in every nation and territory of the Commonwealth. The Gold Coast 2018 Queen's Baton Relay was the longest in Commonwealth Games history. Covering 230,000 km (140,000 mi) over 388 days, the baton made its way through the six Commonwealth regions of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The baton landed on Australian soil in December 2017 and then spent 100 days travelling through Australia, finishing its journey at the Opening Ceremony on 4 April 2018, where the message was removed from the Baton and read aloud byCharles, Prince of Wales.[12] For the first time, the Queen's baton was presented at theCommonwealth Youth Games during itssixth edition in 2017 which were held inNassau,Bahamas.[13] The baton for the Gold Coast 2018 was designed by Brisbane-based company Designworks to reflect the local culture and life of Queensland. Designed for each Games by the host nation, the 2018 Queen's Baton has been made using macadamia wood and reclaimed plastic, sourced from Gold Coast waterways, and inspired by the region's vibrant spirit and indigenous heritage. | |
| 2022 | The2022 Queen's Baton Relay started on 7 October 2021 atBuckingham Palace. It was the last baton relay before thedeath of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September in the same year. | |
| 2026 | The2026 King's Baton Relay will be the first baton relay under the reign ofKing Charles III (since 8 September 2022). |
