Queen's Baton in Bangladesh
26 September 2005

Louise Martin, CBE, Chairman of the Commonweatlh Games Council for Scotland has spent the last 10 days travelling in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives with the Queen's Baton. In her role as Honoray Secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Louise has been the Queens's representative on this part of the Baton's journey towards Australia where it will arrive at the beginning of January.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is one of the great traditions of the Commonwealth Games, having been the curtain-raiser to every games since Cardiff, Wales, in 1958. The relay symbolises the gathering of people from across the Commonwealth at the four-yearly festival of sport and culture.

The relay traditionally begins with a commencement ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London, which coincides with the city’s Commonwealth Day festivities. There Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II entrusts the baton containing Her ‘message to the athletes’ to the first honorary relay runner.

The relay concludes at the Opening Ceremony, as the final relay runner hands the baton back to Her Majesty, or Her representative, and the message is read aloud. At that moment the relay ends and the Games begin.

Over the years, the Queen’s Baton Relay has evolved into a powerful symbol of the unity and diversity of the Commonwealth of Nations. With each Games, the tradition grows in scale and significance - including more nations, involving more participants and generating more excitement than ever before.

The Kuala Lumpur 1998 Queen’s Baton Relay was the first to deliver the relay to other nations of the Commonwealth, besides England and the host country. The Manchester 2002 Queen’s Jubilee Baton travelled more than 100,000 kilometres in 87 days, and visited 23 Commonwealth nations.

By the time it arrives at the Opening Ceremony in Melbourne, to be received by the Queen, the Baton will have travelled through each of the 71 nations of the Commonwealth.