The 2018 Commonwealth Games Queen's Baton Relay was run from 13 March 2017 until 4 April 2018, prior to the

Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Q ...

. The baton bearer selection process for the Australian segment was announced on 18 October 2017. As well as touring Australia the schedule included the other 70

Commonwealth Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

Organisation

The Queen's Baton Relay was launched on

Commonwealth Day Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, held on the second Monday in March. While the date holds some official status in select member states of the Commonwealth, observances of the date are not uniform, an ...

, 13 March 2017, on the historic forecourt at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, signalling the official countdown to the start of the Games. Accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

and Prince Edward, Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

heralded the start of the relay by placing her 'message to the Commonwealth and its athletes' into the distinctive loop-design Queen's Baton which then set off on its journey around the globe. Her Majesty was accompanied by

Louise Martin Louise Martin may refer to: * Louise Martin (photographer) (1911–1995), American photographer * Louise Martin (sports administrator) (born 1946), Scottish sports administrator See also * Louisa Martin Mary Louisa "Mollie" Martin (3 Septembe ...

, President of the

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the governing body ...

(CGF),

Peter Beattie Peter Douglas Beattie (born 18 November 1952) is an Australian former politician who served as the 36th Premier of Queensland, in office from 1998 to 2007. He was the state leader of the Labor Party from 1996 to 2007. Beattie was born in Syd ...

, Chairman of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) and Yugambeh elders Patricia O'Connor and Ted Williams in the ceremony. The Queen's baton was brought into the stage by Australian Paralympic champion

Kurt Fearnley Kurt Harry Fearnley, (born 23 March 1981) is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevent ...

. He started from

Marlborough House Marlborough House, a Grade I listed mansion on The Mall in St James's, City of Westminster, London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Nations and the seat of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It is adjacent to St James's Palace. The ...

up The Mall and then into the Forecourt of Buckingham Palace. He was also accompanied by the

Band of the Scots Guards The Band of the Scots Guards is one of five bands in the Foot Guards Regiments in the Household Division which primarily guards the British monarch. The band is based at Wellington Barracks in St James's, London, which is the same place as ...

, who played by permission of Major General BJ Bathurst, The Major General commanding the Household Division. After the message was placed safely inside the Baton, The Queen handed over the baton to Australian cyclist and Commonwealth and Olympic Games gold medalist

Anna Meares Anna Maree Devenish Meares (born 21 September 1983) is an Australian retired Track cycling, track cyclist. She currently resides in Adelaide in South Australia where the Australian Institute of Sport's Track Cycling program has its headquarters ...

. She, along with English track cyclist

Victoria Pendleton Victoria Louise Pendleton (born 24 September 1980) is a British former Track cycling, track cyclist who specialised in the Sprint (cycling), sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Cycling at the Summer Olympics, Olympic, Wo ...

, then carried the baton around the Queen Victoria Memorial and handed over to the Australian singer

Cody Simpson Cody Robert Simpson (born 11 January 1997) is an Australian singer, actor, and a former competitive swimmer. Since his debut as a recording artist, he has released four solo studio albums: ''Paradise'' (2012), ''Surfers Paradise'' (2013), '' ...

. He then boarded on a Kombi van with the baton and left the place as an indication to the Baton's final destination, Gold Coast. The baton travelled for 388 days, spending time in every nation and territory of the Commonwealth. The Gold Coast 2018 Queen's Baton Relay was the longest in Commonwealth Games history. Covering 230,000 km over 388 days, the baton made its way through the six Commonwealth regions of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania. For the first time in the history of the baton relay, the Queen's Baton was presented at the

Commonwealth Youth Games The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games were held in the years, mid-way between when the Commonwealth Games are held, until 2008. They continued to be he ...

during its

sixth edition Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor sixth ...

in 2017 which was held in

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Austria * Nassau (Groß Sankt Florian), incorporated village of Groß Sankt Florian Bahamas *Nassau, The Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upp ...

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

. The baton landed on Australian soil on 24 December 2017 and then spent 100 days travelling through Australia.

The Queen's baton

The Queen's baton for the 2018 Commonwealth Games had a distinctive loop design and was made of macadamia wood and recycled plastic sourced from Gold Coast waterways. Its design was inspired by the Queensland's "vibrant spirit and indigenous heritage" and with sustainability. The design of the baton was unveiled on 20 November 2016 at a special ceremony in the Jupiter Gold Coast Hotel. The baton was designed by Alex Wall and Warren Shroeder from the Brisbane-based firm Designworks. At the 2018 Good Design Awards conducted by the Good Design Australia, the baton won the Best Product Sport and Lifestyle award.

International route

Africa

The Queen's Baton travelled in the following countries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Caribbean

The Queen's baton traveled in the following countries in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Americas

The Queen's baton traveled in the following countries in

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

Europe

The Queen's baton traveled in the following countries in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia

The Queen's baton traveled in the following countries in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Oceania

The Queen's baton traveled in the following countries in

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

National route

Australian Capital Territory

The Queen's baton traveled in the following places in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

New South Wales

The Queen's baton traveled in the following places in the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...