Militsa Milenkova unveils Commonwealth Games 2026 inclusive medal
Glasgow 2026 unveiled its prize medal at The Glasgow School of Art on 29 April 2026, and the commonwealth games 2026 medal now carries braille and tactile elements for the first time in Games history. Militsa Milenkova designed the piece in secret, giving the Games a prize that is meant to be read as well as seen.
Militsa Milenkova and Glasgow 2026
Milenkova, an award-winning artist, designer and maker and a GSA Artist in Residence, said she wanted to make inclusion tangible and accessible. “I wanted to make inclusion tangible; I’m so proud that the design is tactile and accessible with details expressed in braille on the prize medal for the very first time.”
She also said, “I wanted to try and portray this into something that will become a symbol for the Games and all the people who take part in it.” The medal takes the form of a Reuleaux triangle, and its structural detailing draws on Glasgow’s coat of arms, the city’s landmarks and landscape, and the Finnieston Crane.
The Glasgow School of Art reveal
The reveal took place at The Glasgow School of Art, with His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh among those present. The design was selected through collaboration between Glasgow 2026 and the school, with students in the Silversmithing and Jewellery program invited to submit concepts to a panel that included Commonwealth Sport, Glasgow 2026, the school, the medal fabricator and an independent jewellery and silversmithing expert.
Milenkova said, “I designed the medal to be a standout edition of the Commonwealth Games medals.” That brief was delivered in metal and texture, not just symbolism, and it gives athletes a medal that carries the city’s identity in a form built for touch.
215 gold medals in Glasgow
The scale of the programme is large: 215 gold medals will be awarded across 10 sports and six Para sports. Forty-seven of those gold medals will come in Para sports alone, making it the largest Para sport programme in Games history.
The medal joins the Official Tartan of the Games, designed by Siobhan Mackenzie, and the Longines Countdown Clock in Central Station, designed by Agnes Jones, as part of the visual and ceremonial work shaped by local artists for Glasgow 2026. For athletes, the first prize on offer now has a design built around accessibility, city identity and a record-setting Para sport programme.
