Glasgow's Famous Duke Of Wellington Statue Complete With Traffic Cone

Here's one I got in Glasgow today. The famous Duke Of Wellington statue, complete with his usual traffic cone hat. The council have tried over the years to remove the offending cone but a new one always appears sooner or later. C&C welcome.

ISO 100, 1/1500th sec, f/1.8 @ 50mm

Haha great! Love the tone.

Who was the Duke Of Wellington? Is he a symbol of English imperialism? Is this done by nationalist pranksters or bored youth?

larson59 wrote in post #8230013
Haha great! Love the tone.

Thanks man.

philmar wrote in post #8233383
Who was the Duke Of Wellington? Is he a symbol of English imperialism? Is this done by nationalist pranksters or bored youth?

For the past 20 years or so the Duke of Wellington statue has been the focal point of late night pranksters who climb the 160-year-old statue to top it with a traffic cone according Andy Cumbo, a Glasgow native who works as a chef at a restaurant nearby the statue.

“Sometimes after a couple of drinks on my way home I put the cone back up!” Cumbo said.

Locals believe that the cone represents the city’s sense of humor and ability to not take authority too seriously. To them the cones on the statue are just as important as any of the other monuments and buildings in Glasgow.

“It used to be a weekend prank… then more people joined in and it became an all year round game,” Cumbo said.

Eventually artists began to print pictures and t-shirts of the coned statue and after that it became a very popular pastime.

“When the Gallery Of Modern Art opened 10 years ago it focused the attention on Wellington and from then on the rest is history,” Cumbo said.

Although the cone tradition only began around 20 years ago, the statue was erected in 1844 and was created by the Italian sculptor Carlo Marochetti.

Arthur Wellesley was the first Duke of Wellington and played an important role in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He was a famous military figure in the early nineteenth century who rose to the rank of field marshal and was also a popular politician. In addition to his fame for his statue he is also the namesake of the ubiquitous Wellington rain boot.

That is rich! Good capture.

Deludius Rex wrote in post #8234620
That is rich! Good capture.

Thanks very much.