torchbearers

Relay flame holders

Torchbearers are people who carry torches, whether literally in ceremonies and processions or figuratively as carriers of tradition, knowledge, or a cause.

The torch suggests something that must be kept alive and passed on: She became one of the torchbearers of the civil rights movement.

Athletes who carry the Olympic flame are torchbearers in both senses.

ceremonial

relay

Stage-by-stage transmission

flameBurning gas made visible
processionFormal moving line
OlympicsGlobal athletic contest

cauldron · lighting · stadium · runner · ceremony · handoff · eternal · sacred · tradition · honor

leadership

pioneers

First to explore territory

visionariesThose who anticipate change
trailblazersThose who open territory
championsContest winners, top performers

advocates · crusaders · reformers · pathfinders · vanguard · activists · founders · innovators · movement · cause

knowledge

educators

Those who teach others

scholarsExperts in a field
custodiansThose entrusted with care
preserversThings that maintain condition

tradition · wisdom · enlightenment · mentorship · transmission · heritage · teaching · disciples · successors · lineage

torchbearers

relay

pioneers

educators

torchbearers

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