King’s Baton Relay scheduled to arrive on the Rock

The King’s Baton Relay, a tradition which sees the King’s Baton travel across the Commonwealth, is scheduled to arrive on the Rock between May 8 and May 13.
The baton arrives on the Rock as part of its journey visiting all 74 nations and territories of the Commonwealth, reaching the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania and Europe.
It will arrive following its latest leg through Canada, scheduled from May 2 to May 7.
Each baton carries part of a message from His Majesty King Charles III to the Commonwealth and its athletes.
Having started its journey on March 11, 2025, it has travelled to far-off destinations such as St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia, before heading to Barbados, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Jamaica.
After several other visits, it eventually arrived in the heart of Africa, travelling through countries such as Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
Around October 2025, it made its way through Asia, visiting Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, among others, including India and Pakistan, before heading to locations such as Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.
After arriving in Australia and New Zealand this past March, it continued on to the Falkland Islands and then The Bahamas.
Currently travelling through Bermuda until May 1, it will then head to Canada before arriving on the Rock. From here, it will travel to Malta and then Cyprus, before heading to England on May 26, the first of the Home Nations, and then on to Scotland in time for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.
The baton is carried by thousands of batonbearers — inspiring individuals striving for change in their communities — chosen to take on the once-in-a-lifetime role of carrying the baton in their nation or territory.
By the time it arrives in Glasgow, tens of thousands of batonbearers are expected to have taken part across the Commonwealth throughout the relay.
The baton has been specially designed, engineered and handmade in Glasgow by skilled makers from the social enterprise GalGael and master craftsman Tim Norman. Its design celebrates the beauty of local, natural and sustainable materials, creating a blank canvas for customisation.
While in Gibraltar, it is expected that the baton will parade through the city centre and visit schools, a custom long followed ahead of previous Commonwealth Games. The visit raises awareness not only of the Games themselves but also of Gibraltar’s links with the Commonwealth.
The King’s Baton Relay is a Games tradition that celebrates, embraces and connects communities across the Commonwealth as the countdown to the Commonwealth Games continues.
The relay began on March 10, 2025 at Buckingham Palace, where His Majesty King Charles III, as Head of the Commonwealth, placed his message into the first baton.
The relay lasts 500 days, ending at the Glasgow 2026 Opening Ceremony on July 23, 2026.
All 74 Batons will be reunited at the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2026, where the Scotland Baton will be presented to His Majesty and the message read aloud to declare the Games open.
According to the official Commonwealth Sport website it was "inspired by the three CGF values - Humanity, Equality, Destiny - three interlocking pieces of sustainably sourced ash (a hardwood from Scotland) come together to create the Baton’s form. The negative spaces where the three pieces come together are a strong design feature – representing Commonwealth connections.
"In a break with recent tradition and like the first ever Queen’s Baton Relay in Cardiff in 1958, the Baton takes more of a traditional baton shape. It is simple and sustainable – with no complex electronics or chambers, and is a blank canvas, enabling the final design of each Baton to be crafted by the nation or territory it belongs to."
The Baton stands at around 470mm high and each face around 70mm wide.
Each end is tapered to allow two people to hold the Baton at the same time, creating moments of connection throughout the King’s Baton Relay and across the Commonwealth.
This will be one of the lightest Batons ever created at around 800 grams, creating a more accessible Baton for the King’s Baton Relay.
The final baton - for Scotland - will contain a chamber for the King’s Message. The King placed His Message into the Baton on 10th March 2025 when he launched the King’s Baton Relay at Buckingham Palace. This Baton contains a cork chamber closure, emblazoned with a Saltire of wood, which will keep The Message safe and hidden until it is retrieved in July 2026.
Each of the other Batons has one single word from The King’s Message engraved onto it, taking the message far and wide across the Commonwealth until the full message is reunited at the Opening Ceremony for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.