Glaswegians have been left divided after the city's famous Duke of Wellington statue was spotted sporting a rather excessive number of traffic cones.
The iconic statue outside the Gallery of Modern Art is almost never seen without its trademark orange cone, but a recent photo shared on Reddit showed seven cones piled on top of the Duke's head. The unusual sight prompted one user to ask: "Is seven a record?"
Mixed reactions on social media
While some found the sight amusing, others were less than impressed, with many Scots claiming the tradition had now been taken too far.
One person simply commented: "People are ruining it. One & done." While another social media user fumed: "This is getting boring. Can we just not."
A third warned that the council might get involved if the coning is taken too far, as they penned: "Taking it too far. It’s ruining through tradition. The council will end up banning it."
Others appeared to agree, with one Reddit user describing the seven cones as "a bit of an overkill". Meanwhile another claimed the tradition had lost its joy, stating: "I think it’s cool we put cones on things but I feel like this is a bit excessive."
Defenders of the tradition
However, not everyone was ready to put a limit on one of Glasgow's most famous traditions.
One user hit back at the criticism, writing: "Imagine thinking one cone is tasteful and seven is unacceptable when the whole point is to be doing something silly. A bunch of g***s acting like there is somehow a line when the whole thing started with the intent of crossing it? Ridiculous."
Another summed up the city's bizarre relationship with the landmark, commenting: "It's like describing Glasgow to a person who's never seen it, then asking them to draw it."
History of the coning tradition
The Duke of Wellington statue has become one of the most recognisable symbols of Glasgow, with the orange traffic cone becoming just as famous as the statue itself. The unusual coning tradition even found itself overseas in America during this year's World Cup.
It is widely believed the tradition began sometime around the 1980s, when drunken revellers or mischievous students started climbing the 21-foot-high statue to place a cone on the Duke's head.
Although council workers have repeatedly removed them over the years, the cones have continued to return. With the tradition turning into an ongoing battle between the authorities and locals.
The council has previously cited safety concerns, both for people attempting to climb the statue and for anyone who could be hit if the cone fell from above. There have also been concerns about damage to the statue itself, which has reportedly lost parts including its spurs and half of its sword as people have attempted to scale it over the years.
Despite this, the cone has become an unmistakable part of Glasgow's identity, with the city's residents often taking pride in the cheeky tradition. The sight has become so iconic that the statue was even included in Lonely Planet's list of the Top 10 Most Bizarre Monuments On Earth.
