When diehard Pirates fan Ricky Duncan saw the Pirates “hoist the cone” meme going viral, he knew he had to show up and show out for the Bucs’ home opener Friday.

Duncan spent Friday afternoon tailgating and walking throughout PNC Park with a felt traffic cone on his head.

“I knew I had to order one to wear to the home opener today,” Duncan, of Johnstown, said of the Pirates’ early-season dugout celebration that has gained traction on social media and SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcasts.

He wasn’t alone in the accessory choice. Fans around the stadium were sporting orange traffic cones of all sizes in all sorts of styles. Some wore them on their heads, others held small replicas and waved them in the air.

Pirates players debuted an orange traffic cone in the dugout during their March 31 game against the Cincinnati Reds.

“Some of us just needed to hoist the cone,” Pirates outfielder Jake Mangum said.

Second baseman Nick Yorke said the cone was inspired by a misprint on a Fanatics T-shirt that said “hoist the cone,” rather than the intended phrase, “hoist the colors.” He said after the cone was introduced in the dugout in Cincinnati, the Bucs had a good series and the celebration ended up sticking.

“I saw (Oneil Cruz) throw the cone on his head after his homer the other day,” Yorke said. “It’s just something fun to have in the dugout to get the boys buzzing.”

The celebration doesn’t stop with the cone.

Yorke said the team has a few different celebration props. The player of the game gets a pat on the back and a chance to wear construction hat.

“Pittsburgh’s a gritty town,” Yorke said. “We’ve got the welder’s helmet, we’ve got the traffic cone.”

The welder’s mask is reserved for homers. Players are handed the mask when they returned to the dugout after crossing home plate and they parade past their celebrating teammates.

“When you think of Pittsburgh, I think that’s the best home run celebration possible,” Mangum said.

The cone, Yorke said, is for anything good that happens on the field, be it a double — like the one produced by top prospect Konnor Griffin in first at-bat Friday — or just a good play.

“It’s just fun,” Yorke said. “It’s just a fun little prop set that we get to use when we do good stuff, so it makes you want to go out and do good stuff.”

Staff writer Justin Guerriero contributed.