Clyde was the official mascot of the
2014 Commonwealth Games
The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
in
Glasgow. Clyde is an anthropomorphic
thistle (the
floral emblem of
Scotland) and is named after the
River Clyde
The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
which flows through the centre of
Glasgow. The mascot was designed by Beth Gilmour from Cumbernauld, who won a competition run by Glasgow 2014 for children to design the Mascot. Beth's drawing was then brought to life by digital agenc
Nerv who turned it into a commercial character, created a full backstory, gave it a name – Clyde – and created a website for him. Clyde was finally revealed in a seven-minute animated film created b
Nervat a ceremony at
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...
's headquarters in
Glasgow. The organiser, Glasgow 2014, said the mascot's design was chosen, because of its "Scottish symbolism and Glaswegian charm and likeability".
Clyde was named as the official mascot for Team Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Statues
25 life-size Clyde statues were erected at places of public interest across the city including the
Glasgow Botanic Gardens, the
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and at
George Square. However following vandalism at a statue in the
Govan area of the city, the statues were taken down. They are expected to be re-erected in secure areas.
Commercial
By the final day of the Games, over 50,000 Clyde mascot
cuddly toy
A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...
s had been sold.
Post-Glasgow 2014
Due to popularity in the city, a petition was set up to make Clyde the mascot of the
Glasgow City Council
Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...
in the aftermath of the Commonwealth Games, the petition gained over 1,500 signatures.
In October 2021, it was announced that Clyde would be the official mascot for
Team Scotland
Sports teams of Scotland is an incomplete list of the national sports teams representing Scotland.
Scottish representative teams
Multi-sport events
*''Scotland'', the team sent by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland to represent the ...
at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
See also
*
List of Commonwealth Games mascots
Since 1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of ...
*
Borobi (mascot)
*
Karak (mascot)
Karak was the mascot for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He was modelled on a red-tailed black cockatoo, a threatened species within the host country, Australia.
His biography, according to Commonwealth Games organisers:
Comes from a long line of s ...
*
Matilda (mascot)
*
Shera (mascot)
*
Perry (mascot)
References
{{Reflist
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20150227141514/http://www.nerv.co.uk/work/glasgow-2014-commonwealth-games/
* http://www.glasgow2014.com/celebrate/mascot
2014 Commonwealth Games
Sport in Glasgow
Scottish mascots
Sports mascots
Commonwealth Games mascots
Mascots introduced in 2014