The iconic traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue in Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow is an image closely associated with the city, and with its sense of humour.
Outrage came when the announcement was made that the City Council planned to remove what they described as a ‘depressing’ image of the city.
An online petition has garnered over 4,000 signatures and the Facebook group ‘Keep the Cone’ has over 88,000 likes in 48 hours, with such a surge of interest and support, why has such a benign topic gathered so much attention?
It’s because it’s silly, all fads and motions that surround issues like these are rooted in one simple fact – they’re ridiculous.
Glasgow City Council initially wanted to spend £65,000 to stop drunken revellers and others carrying on the tradition, despite using the image in several of their own promotional materials. The image is even being used as part of the Commonwealth Games and many of the Museums in Glasgow sell merchandise emblazoned with the image.
It could be described as ‘street art’, conveying Glasgow’s sense of humour and Glaswegian’s determination to do as they please – but let’s be honest; it’s just a cone on the head of a statue that we all find slightly amusing.
Glasgow was recently dubbed the ‘Workless capital of the UK’ with 30.2% of homes found to be workless in 2012, and almost half of Glasgow’s residents (283,000 of them) reside in 20% of the most deprived areas in Scotland, Glasgow City Council should probably turn their attention to issues which really matter.
I have a feeling the Duke of Wellington will be adorned with the Icone-ic image for some time to come.
You can follow Abbi on Twitter @badlucksuitsme. Let us know in the comments below if you agree with the council’s (now scuppered) plans to raise the plinth - or perhaps you think the cone should stay?
I’ve always kinda wondered about the cone… because while it’s amusing to me and to people in the know I’d hate to think that a tourist would come and have a negative impression of the city simply from not knowing that it’s, in a sense, meant to be there.
That being said the idea of paying all that money to have it raised, when (as the author notes) there are so many genuinely pressing issues in the city is absurd, so I’m glad this all fell through!