![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_Duke-of-Wellington-statue.jpg\")
A plaque near the Duke of Wellington statue on Queen Street humorously claims to reveal the \u201cAncient Tradition Behind The Cones On Glasgow\u2019s Statues.\u201d(Image: Emily Macinnes\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\nThe grey plaque outside 100 Queen Street, facing the statue, reveals the \u201cunbelievable\u201d origin of Glasgow\u2019s famous cone tradition.A plaque near the Duke of Wellington statue on Queen Street humorously claims to reveal the \u201cAncient Tradition Behind The Cones On Glasgow\u2019s Statues.\u201d(Image: Emily Macinnes\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
A plaque near one of Glasgow\u2019s most iconic landmarks is capturing people’s attention online, after claiming to reveal the \u201cAncient Tradition Behind The Cones On Glasgow\u2019s<\/a> Statues\u201d.<\/p>\n Located just outside 100 Queen Street, directly facing the Duke of Wellington statue, the grey circular sign appears fixed to a black box, and it\u2019s not what it seems. The so-called explanation behind the now world-famous tradition<\/a> of placing traffic cones on the Duke\u2019s head is, in fact, an elaborate and hilarious work of street art, Glasgow Live<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n The plaque is the latest creation from the Glasgow Information and Kultural Identity Taskforce, better known as GlaIKIT<\/a>, a tongue-in-cheek collective of \u201crogue historians\u201d responsible for installing similar plaques across the city.<\/p>\n Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n Their latest handiwork outlines the bizarre origins of a tradition they call \u201cConing\u201d, claiming it stretches back \u201chundreds, if not thousands, of years to the clans of the Scottish Highlands\u201d.<\/p>\n The plaque reads: \u201cHere, a man seeking to wed a chieftain\u2019s daughter would be challenged to place a cone fashioned from the pelt of a haggis on the top of an eighty-foot grease-covered pole while the woman\u2019s male relatives sought to stop him. If he succeeded, he\u2019d win her hand in marriage, but if he failed he\u2019d instantly be put to death.\u201d<\/p>\n Over time, it explains, the deadly rite evolved into a bizarre Highland sport, where \u201chundreds of men, naked except for their sporrans, would fight to be the first to place their cone on the summit of a tall, slippery pole\u201d.<\/p>\n When Highlanders began migrating to Glasgow during the 1800s, the sport allegedly took root in the city\u2019s working class communities.<\/p>\n \u201cBy 1900 onwards, large groups of near-naked Glaswegians could be found across the city competing to place a haggis-skin cone on top of a greasy pole,\u201d it claims.<\/p>\n However, the government eventually stepped in, banning Coning poles over concerns about productivity due to the many injuries sustained during the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the ever-resourceful locals simply switched to competing to place cones on the heads of public statues instead, many of which depicted the very same politicians who\u2019d tried to eradicate the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the plaque, the tradition adapted with the times. \u201cBy the 1950s, plastic traffic cones had replaced the original haggis skin ones,\u201d it continues, \u201cand in the 2010s, the sport\u2019s practitioners, known as coneheads, began a campaign to have Coning recognised and protected under the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural<\/a> Heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n The plaque concludes saying: \u201cThis was finally granted on the 1st of April 2024 so enshrining in law the right of every drunken Glaswegian to climb a greased-up statue while naked except for a sporran in an attempt to be the first to place a cone on its head.\u201d<\/p>\n Visitors are then directed to GlaIKIT\u2019s official website, which offers more \u201cextraordinary tales from Glasgow\u2019s rich and vibrant past\u201d, stories, they admit, that have been \u201coverlooked by other historians<\/a> of the city for far too long simply because there\u2019s absolutely no evidence they ever happened\u201d.<\/p>\n Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.<\/p>\n You’ll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.<\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.<\/p>\n All you have to do is click here if you’re on mobile<\/strong><\/a>, select ‘Join Community’ and you’re in!<\/p>\n If you’re on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click ‘Join Community’.<\/p>\n We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_Duke-of-Wellington-Statue.jpg\")
The plaque claims the traffic cones on the Duke of Wellington statue stem from an ancient Highland tradition called “Coning.”(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1747398730_254_0_WACOMMUNITYQR3.jpg\")
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