Road cones decorate the Mosgiel sign, as a nod to the township's Scottish associations and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Photo: Peter McIntosh

Orange road cones on a motorway mean “impending danger”.

But when they are stacked along the Mosgiel sign, it is a nod to something completely different — something only people who have been to Glasgow will recognise.

Mosgiel resident and former Scot Laura MacDonald said she noticed a fluorescent orange road cone sitting proudly in the “O” of the Mosgiel sign earlier in the month, and while it was unusual, it was also “immediately familiar”.

“To many, it might seem like an ordinary road cone, but to a Scot, it is an iconic symbol.

“So, seeing a road cone placed in the O of the Mosgiel sign immediately made me smile.”

A road cone on the Mosgiel sign is a nod to the town's Scottish connections and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery

In Glasgow, a statue of the Duke of Wellington, sitting proudly upon his horse in Royal Exchange Square, was famous for regularly being adorned with a traffic cone, she said.

Despite countless attempts to remove them, the cones inevitably return — a humorous and enduring symbol of Glasgow’s spirit.

“The amount of money that Glasgow council has paid over the years to try and remove them … and people keep climbing back up and putting another one on top.

“It’s a battle they’re never going to win.

“I quite like it because that shows the spirit of the Scottish people. It's kind of like a strength thing in showing their non-conformity.

“The Scottish people just keep doing it for a bit of fun, a bit of a laugh and a bit of a crack.”

More recently, following Scotland’s Fifa World Cup success, road cones had started to appear on statues across Scotland and other parts of the world, as fans continued the tradition of “leaving their mark”, she said.

Now it appeared local Scots and Scottish fans were leaving their mark in Mosgiel by putting multiple road cones on the Mosgiel sign, in support of the Commonwealth Games, which were being hosted in Glasgow.

“It seems this tradition may have made its way across the world, from Glasgow to Mosgiel.

“It seems particularly fitting, given Mosgiel’s connection to Robbie Burns and its namesake — Mossgiel Farm, in Ayrshire, Scotland.”

The cones had received an “overwhelmingly positive response” from the community, she said.

While she was impressed with the Commonwealth Games-level athleticism and agility that was required to get the cones in place on the sign, she warned about the dangers of it.

Senior Sergeant Iain Notman, of Dunedin, was also concerned about the behaviour.

“Police strongly discourage the recent trend of placing road cones on top of the Mosgiel sign.

“Serious injuries can occur when people climb high structures for fun, photos or social media content.

“Whether it's a bridge, building, sign, tower, cliff edge or other elevated structure, a fall from height can have life-changing or fatal consequences.”

Anyone caught on the sign would be “subject to the appropriate lawful consequences”, he said.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz