Boston Removes Cones From 3 Statues as 20,000 Scotland Fans Bring Glasgow Prank to World Cup
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 17
Boston Removes Cones From 3 Statues as 20,000 Scotland Fans Bring Glasgow Prank to World Cup
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 17
Summary
Boston authorities began taking traffic cones off at least three statues by Wednesday afternoon after Scotland supporters placed them on landmarks across the city.
20,000 to 30,000 fans traveled to Boston for Scotland’s World Cup opener against Haiti, and the cone-topping spread ahead of Friday’s match with Morocco as a playful marker of Scottish presence.
The prank hit the Arms of Friendship sculpture, former mayor Kevin White’s statue and Bill Russell’s monument, with some locals saying they welcomed the gesture and found it amusing.
The custom comes from Glasgow’s Duke of Wellington statue, which has repeatedly been topped with a cone since the 1980s despite council removals and vandalism warnings.
That long-running image has since become a recognizable symbol of Glasgow—appearing in tourism merchandise and even drawing praise from Banksy in 2023.