2010 Commonwealth Games - Queen's Baton Relay

Queen's Baton Relay

The Queen's Baton Relay began when the baton, which contains Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. The baton arrived at the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 54 nations of the Commonwealth and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games.The baton arrived in India on 25 June 2010 through the Wagah Border crossing from Pakistan.

The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design. It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all the regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf—representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is 664 millimetres (26.1 in) high, 34 millimetres (1.3 in) wide at the base, and 86 millimetres (3.4 in) wide at the top and weighs 1,900 grams (67 oz).

The Queen's baton has a number of technological features including:

• The ability to capture images and sound
• Global positioning system (GPS) technology so the baton's location can be tracked
• Embedded light emitting diodes (LEDs) which will change into the colours of a country’s flag whilst in that country
• A text messaging capability so that people can send messages of congratulations and encouragement to the baton bearers throughout the relay