Bearer Mark Turnham (left) with Birmingham Council leader Ian Ward as a heritage Baton tour was announced for next year ©ITG

The Queen's Baton used for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has been presented to the city by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and is to be put on public display early next year at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum.

It is also set to embark on a legacy tour to projects and neighbourhoods which received funding from the City Council's £6 million ($7.32 million/ €6.95 million) community fund.

The tour is expected to coincide with the one-year anniversary of staging the Games which falls in July and August 2023.

The Baton was officially entrusted to the city of Birmingham by former Commonwealth Games England chairman Ian Metcalfe, representing the CGF in a special "thank you" ceremony at the Birmingham City Council House.

Commonwealth Games England Immediate Past Chairman Ian Metcalfe hands the Baton to Birmingham Council leader Ian Ward at a Ceremony in Birmingham ©Getty Images
Commonwealth Games England Immediate Past Chairman Ian Metcalfe hands the Baton to Birmingham Council leader Ian Ward at a Ceremony in Birmingham ©Getty Images


"Our thank you event was all about showing our appreciation and that will continue into 2023 and beyond through our plans to put the Queen's Baton on display and take it out into our communities as a way of demonstrating that the Games were made by everyone in Birmingham and were for everyone in the city," Birmingham City Council Leader Ian Ward said.

"I've said many times that the Games are the point at which people far and wide will acknowledge that Birmingham changed for the better and we now have a golden decade of opportunity, which our 'Proud Host City' status has undoubtedly opened the door for."

The Baton was made in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter and fashioned from copper, aluminium and brass.

The outsize pin badges which were displayed in Birmingham during the Commonwealth Games are now being presented to representatives of nations ©ITG
The outsize pin badges which were displayed in Birmingham during the Commonwealth Games are now being presented to representatives of nations ©ITG

It also included streaks of platinum to recognise the Queen's platinum jubilee shortly before the Games.

The Baton containing the Queen's Message began its journey at Buckingham Palace and visited all 72 Commonwealth nations and territories in a 294-day journey before arriving at the Opening Ceremony at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium.

The display of the Baton in the host city follows a tradition established by the first Queen's Baton in 1958 for the Games in Cardiff.

This was also manufactured in Birmingham but given to Cardiff after the Games by order of the Queen with the request that it be put on display.

During Birmingham's thank you ceremony, representatives of Commonwealth nations were also presented with the outsize pin badges which had been on display in Centenary Square for the duration of the Games.