Americans describe taking over a cause with a flame. The phrase is “carrying the torch.” A related phrase is “passing the torch.”
The torch metaphor is ancient. Greek festivals ran torch races, and the prize went to the runner who finished with the flame still burning. The torch-bearer as a leader of a cause dates to the 1530s.
John F. Kennedy fixed the modern form. In his 1961 inaugural address he said, “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.”