Perry was the official mascot of the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England. The organisers named him Perry after

Perry Barr Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khali ...

, the area of

where the games' primary venue,

Alexander Stadium Alexander Stadium is a track and field athletics stadium in Perry Park, Birmingham, England. It hosted the athletics and opening/closing ceremonies of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Other events held there include the annual British Grand Prix ...

is located. He is a bull in reference to Birmingham's historic Bull Ring market. Perry's sports kit relates to the sports of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and his medal is meant to symbolise Birmingham's

Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of around 19,000 people in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses invol ...

. His skin is emblazoned with multicoloured

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

s, to represent equality, diversity and the strength of the Commonwealth family. The design was inspired by Emma Lou, a ten-year-old girl who won a national competition in 2020. Emma was also the first person to see Perry in full mascot costume. The competition was launched by a former Olympic athlete and gold medal winner,

Denise Lewis Denise Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports presenter and former track and field athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was twice Commonwealth Games champion, ...

. Emma received lavish praise for creating "the perfect Games mascot for celebrations across the city, the country and the Commonwealth". The costumed version of the mascot was engaged in outreach in the run-up to the games, such as on a visit to Wilson Stuart School in Perry Common, House of Commons and a visit to 10 Downing Street where he was accused of

photobomb Photobombing is the act of purposely putting oneself into the view of a photograph, often in order to play a practical joke on the photographer or the subjects. Photobombing has received significant coverage since 2009. In discussing a "stingray ...

ing a Sky News report on the day of a

confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

leader

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

. A

plushie 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 ...

version of Perry accompanied the Queen's Baton on its 2021–22

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

around the Commonwealth. Perry and Emma Lou

Perry’s Trail
a city-wide mascot trail of 17 Perry statues and eight digital avatars, was launched a week before the opening ceremony to celebrate the games.

References

{{reflist Animal mascots Commonwealth Games mascots Perry Barr

See also

References