An ode to Glasgow’s Statue of Wellington

Our city wouldn’t be the same without it


The city of Glasgow is a city like no other.

In the city centre you’ll find George Square, shopping centres, Glasgow Green and most importantly, the Statue of Wellington.

“A statue? What’s so important about a statue?” I hear you exclaim. Sit down and listen, young one.

Glasgow’s landmark

The cone

The silhouette of a man riding a horse has become an adored landmark and touristic attraction to both the people who make Glasgow and to those who come wearing chunky cameras around their necks. But the thing that lures the unsuspecting tourist in is the traffic cone that the man wears for a hat… and the people love it.

In 2013, the Glasgow City Council tried to put plans in action to remove the cone for good, but that was shortly dismissed after a petition was created to save the cone. The petition gained over 10,000 signatures in just under 24 hours. People have tried a number of times to remove said cone and another one pops up the next day.

It’s dumb, it makes no sense, and it looks a bit weird. What’s not to like?

The statue isn’t the same without its cone

It’s really, really old

The statue is situated outside the Gallery of Modern Art and has done since 1844. That’s a long time to be riding a horse.

It attended the Commonwealth Games

Ok, obviously the statue didn’t move anywhere. But the Commonwealth Games came to the statue in 2014.

The people love it

Donna Yates, one of the organisers of the petition to save the cone, said: “If we think about how traditions get started, this is already a tradition. It’s quite old, it’s something that’s within the fabric of the city, and the city quite like it”.

Glaswegians became quite sentimental when the plans to remove the cone surfaced. One woman who responded to the petition said that when she would visit Glasgow in her childhood, she would go to see if the cone was there. Now she does that with her own family. Cute.

It loves to dress up

Some people even dress the statue up to suit whatever the occasion. One year, he was Santa and during the Indy Ref he was a Yes voter. During the 2012 Olympics, he donned a gold hat to celebrate Scotland’s success.

Looking suave

 

People go nuts for cone souvenirs 

The Art Gallery gift shop is half cone-themed. The Gallery said: “It attracts tourists and is a talking point. Most tourists who ask about it think that it’s a modern art installation.”

It gets confused with modern art

So, essentially, the community are subconsciously creating what tourists perceive as modern art – the things people can achieve when they don’t even put their mind into it.

People (and statues) really do make Glasgow.