The design of the Baton which will carry the Queen’s Message to athletes ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games has been revealed.
It is the work of Zimbabwe-born, Coventry-based artist Laura Nyahuye, chief executive of Maokwo, a not-for-profit company which promotes minorities through art.
It has been made in conjunction with Raymont-Osman Product Design, a design and engineering company, and development specialists Kajul, both based in Warwickshire.
"My prayer is the Baton creates a rhythmic heartbeat of peace, love, and a hunger to connect beyond our skin tones and ethnicities," Nyahuye said.
Nyahuye described working on the design as "an intense yet enlightening process."
The Baton has been deliberately cast in non-precious metals - copper, aluminum and brass - to represent the gold, silver and bronze medals at the Games themselves.
It was made in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, using the traditional method of lost-wax casting.
This provides a link with the very first silver- gilt Queen’s Baton, which was also manufactured by a company in the Jewellery Quarter before the 1958 Cardiff Games.
It is scheduled to visit all 72 Commonwealth Games nations and territories in a 294-day journey which culminates in Birmingham.
Commonwealth Games Federation President Dame Louise Martin is set to join the Queen at Buckingham Palace for the grand start next Thursday (October 5th).
"The Queen’s Baton Relay is one of the most special aspects of the Commonwealth Games as it so vividly symbolizes the friendship, respect and unity across our 72 nations and territories," Dame Louise said.
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