The King’s Baton Relay began at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day, Monday 10 March 2025, when His Majesty The King placed His Message to the Commonwealth that will be carried as part of the Relay into the first Baton.
The King’s Baton Relay is a tradition that celebrates, connects and excites communities from across the Commonwealth during the build-up to the Games and the journey to Glasgow 2026 will take 500 days and reach every corner of the Commonwealth.
For the first time ever, every Commonwealth nation and territory will receive their own Baton for their celebrations and have been asked to customise and decorate this Baton to represent their culture. All 74 batons will be reunited at the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2026, where the final Baton will be presented to His Majesty and the Message read aloud to declare the Games open.
For the first time as part of The King’s Baton Relay, Commonwealth Sport is partnering with the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) to deliver the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign – bringing much-needed attention to both ongoing ocean conservation efforts and interesting new solutions to plastic waste
The campaign aim is for athletes and communities to come together to prevent one million pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth waters and spark lasting change in how we view plastic pollution, with this global relay of plastic clean-ups journeying through every Commonwealth nation and territory as part of The King’s Baton Relay
