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Glasgow 2014


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That is one lovely looking stick, would make a great Olympic torch. :)

I don't know anything about batons pre-02, any pics?

Brisbane 1982

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Victoria 1994

queens-baton-1994.jpg

Kuala Lumpur 1998

baton.jpg

Couldn't find Edinburgh or Auckland's batons, sorry ^^;

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If that were an Olympic torch (which you could very easily imagine it to be) it would be, hands down, my favourite ever.

In terms of design it is the best QB ever, and easily trumps the torch designs of Sochi, London, Vancouver, Beijing, and Torino.

I love the less aerodynamic looking designs - I'm a big fan of Atlanta's torch, and to a lesser extent, Athens.

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98 is bizarre, 94 is nicely designed, but looks tiny, & 82 looks more Thai than Queensland. Manchester's was a bit boring, Melbourne's was nice, but looked uncomfortably long. I liked Delhi's too, but this is the best so far, it's beautiful. Love how the granite thing looks like a curling stone, so Scottish. Well done Glasgie.

One other thing, was Brisbane the first one?

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A really nice Baton, modern yet traditional, and you can see Glasgow in it, the cranes, the boat building, the steel of the shipyards that made the city famous.

Can you? Is it meant to be a street map then? Sorry, I didn't see any of those references not really knowing the city. The choice of materials though is very nice.

Is there an explanation anywhere of the references hidden within the design?

Regardless, it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Well done Glasgow!

Edited by RobH
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Here is the Auckland baton, features various koru and fern patterns. It split in half and became the *pride of New Zealand* and *spirit of New Zealand* , with one touring the north island and one the south. They were then united on the morning of the opening ceremony on Auckland's harbour.

I don't have a photo of the Christchurch baton , but it was rather geometric in design and featured the pounamu New Zealand greenstone.

http://www.parliament.nz/resource/00078541

I love this Glasgow baton though, so stylish . I think some of the recent hosts have almost been jumping out of their skins to try and create a baton which looks like an Olympic torch. It's clear that Glasgow has had their mind set on a more traditional looking baton, however in doing so, have created something which I think would look just fine as an Olympic torch.

Good work Glasgow.

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For RobH

The illuminated Queen’s message

The heart of the Baton design centres on the Queen’s message, which will be placed inside a transparent cylinder and housed in a pure titanium latticework frame. The message forms the visual core of the Baton design - illuminated from within by LED lights, yet unreadable until the Opening Ceremony.

The lattice frame

The titanium lattice frame takes inspiration from Glasgow’s rich industrial heritage and the architectural beauty of Charles Rennie Mackintosh design. A cutting-edge ‘Direct Metal Laser Sintering’ process was used to create its striking organic form, fusing together multiple layers of pure titanium powder three hundredths of a millimetre thick with a focused laser beam – essentially 3D printing.

The handle

The baton’s handle is made from Elm sourced from the grounds of Garrison House on the Isle of Cumbrae - a tribute to Scotland’s natural resources. It was constructed using a boat-building technique called bird-mouthing, traditionally used to make masts for ships. Light, strong and durable, the handle was created by craftsmen at GalGael, a Glasgow social enterprise that teaches traditional skills.

The Granite gemstone

The Baton contains a granite ‘gemstone’ which will be gifted to each nation and territory during the visit. Housed at the very top of the Baton, it is released only by opening a clever mechanism, inspired by historic box puzzles. The gemstones, made of granite unique to Scotland, were sourced from Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde, crafted by Kays of Scotland, world-famous Curling stone manufacturers, and embellished by jewellers from The Glasgow School of Art.

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Can you? Is it meant to be a street map then? Sorry, I didn't see any of those references not really knowing the city.

Rob, i simply can't believe this. Surely you know that Glasgow is famous for shipbuilding and boatbuilding? I assume that you know what a crane looks like and its latice steel design?

And Granite, Aberdeen is the Granite city but is used throughout Scotland.

So you are telling me that you have never heard of these things being associated with Glasgow or Scotland?

Or is it your a wee bit jealous, due to London's Torch being described as a gangsters chain and not being identifiable to London? :P

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The more I think about it, the more I believe that Glasgow 2014 is shaping up to have one of the strongest Commonwealth Games brands since Christchurch 1974. So much synchronicity. It's also refreshingly current, without trying too hard to be edgey - something I really felt with London's 2012 brand, being directly inspired by the nu-rave culture of the previous decade, it seemed slightly out of date by the time 2012 rolled around.

Anyway- hugely excited for Glasgow 2014! I'm genuinely looking forward to it as much as I am the 2016 Olympics. (Sochi at this point is more of a morbid curiosity- it's almost like watching the video of that sleek Spanish high speed train crash)

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Rob, i simply can't believe this. Surely you know that Glasgow is famous for shipbuilding and boatbuilding? I assume that you know what a crane looks like and its latice steel design?

And Granite, Aberdeen is the Granite city but is used throughout Scotland.

So you are telling me that you have never heard of these things being associated with Glasgow or Scotland?

Or is it your a wee bit jealous, due to London's Torch being described as a gangsters chain and not being identifiable to London? :P

I got the granite reference straight away. That was obvious.

And of course I know Glasgow is famous for shipbuilding etc, but before reading the explanation I didn't see that in the baton I'm afraid. As I said, I actually thought it might be a map of some of the streets, which would've been just as clever an idea. Maybe I was overthinking it! :D

The shipbuilding reference within the design wasn't obvious to me, sorry. That doesn't make it a bad design at all, because it worked for me aesthetically even before seeing the explanation.

No jealousy at all. I love London's torch and London had to produce eight thousand of them (and they had to house an open flame). Apart from being held by a runner, the projects are not even slightly comparable in scope or in function. It's not really surprising that Glasgow's single baton is more intricate and artful because it's a one-off. Both design teams did a remarkable job as far as I can tell.

Edited by RobH
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Don't they secretly produce two or three more batons just in case something damages the original one? I know the Queen leaves her message on a single baton and it's supposed to be an unique artifact, but she always brings her speech in her royal clutch anyway...

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Good point Victor Mata...

I remember Auckland did have a spare in 1990. Auckland's was unusual in that it actually split in two when it got to NZ so both islands got a full relay. The Queens message was written on two sheets.

Still, this Baton is quite nice in it's simplicity...Who wants to lay a bet Australian oneupmanship will produce something utterly rediculous for 2018, wouldn't put it past them to use a surf board.

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A really nice Baton, modern yet traditional, and you can see Glasgow in it, the cranes, the boat building, the steel of the shipyards that made the city famous.

A very good job well done.

baton_banner.png

The funny thing is that the Rennie Mackintosh influence seems to come mostly from his flowers!

mackintoshpanel2bwp.jpg

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Quite high, it's in Glasgow remember. :P

Haa haa, at least its not Edinburgh...

Interesting to see that Christchurch's St Andrews College took out the High School section of the Bag Pipe Band world champs in Glasgow in the weekend past...First time a school group out of North Eng- I mean - Scotland has won this.

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  • 2 weeks later...

XX Commonwealth Games 23 Jul /3 Aug Glasgow (AUS / CAN / ENG / IND / MAS / NZL / PAK / RSA / SCO / WAL) (Scotland)

CGF W XX Commonwealth Games 23 Jul /3 Aug Glasgow (AUS / CAN / ENG / IND / MAS / NZL / RSA / SCO / TTO / WAL) (Scotland)

Are the the field hockey teams that qualified.

Edited by intoronto
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