The newest arrival at Boston Logan International Airport received a reception usually reserved for visiting dignitaries. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joined a bagpiper in full regalia on Tuesday to greet a commemorative orange traffic cone that had travelled first-class from Glasgow.
“I have to admit, this is probably – yes, it is – my first official welcoming ceremony for a traffic cone,” Governor Healey said. “But it’s a pretty special one, isn’t it? Because this cone tells the story of what happened this summer.”
From Glasgow prank to Boston tradition
The “Boston cone” celebrates the Scottish football fans who transformed parts of the city into an unofficial Scottish outpost during the World Cup. The tartan army placed traffic cones atop famous landmarks including the Samuel Adams statue outside Faneuil Hall, the Red Auerbach figure outside TD Garden, and the beloved Make Way for Ducklings sculptures in the Public Garden.
This mischievous tradition originated in Glasgow in the 1980s, when locals began placing orange cones on public statues as a late-night prank. The practice has since become an unofficial symbol of Scottish humour, most notably atop the Duke of Wellington statue in the city centre, where repeated removal efforts have faced public opposition.
The Scottish visitors left a significant impression on local hospitality. Governor Healey thanked the fans “for drinking all the beer,” acknowledging that Boston bars struggled to keep up with demand and some ran dry during the tournament. “I do promise you, when you return … we will never again run out of beer in Massachusetts,” she added.
Mayor Wu observed that Boston had “unofficially become New Scotland” and noted that some cones remained atop the city’s most important statues.
Raising funds and spirits
The decorated cone, which bears illustrations celebrating both Boston and Scotland alongside the slogan “No Boston, No Party”, will spend the next week visiting landmarks across Massachusetts. The tour aims to raise money for mental health charities before the cone returns to Scotland.
Danny Campbell, one of the cone’s Scottish escorts, explained that the object carries deeper meaning beyond the prank. “This is not just a silly cone,” he said. “It means love. It means love, and that is the whole point.”
Campbell described the cone as a “metaphor for life” that reminds people to look beyond daily routines. He noted that Scottish fans “left stomachs and cheeks sore from laughing, they cleaned up after themselves, they spread joy” during their stay in Boston.