Last Updated on January 3, 2023 by Netropolitan Museum

Profile: Lapel Pin from the 1986 European Championships, Copenhagen, Denmark

In three successive decades—1970s, 1980s, and 1990s—Denmark’s capital city of Copenhagen (København to the locals) was host to Europe’s top figure skating event. So when the 1986 European Figure Skating Championships came to that city in late January–early February, it was the second time around, and some 11 years had elapsed since the 1975 championships were on Danish soil. Times had changed in those years, as had figure skating, but the Danes kept things consistent with a nice-quality pin issued for the 1986 European Figure Skating Championships. And although the fills on the lettering are somewhat uneven, the pin displays well. The 1975 European Championships pin is overall better quality, but the design of each pin reflects the respective decade.

A rich blue at the center of the 1986 European Figure Skating Championships pin contrasts well with the stylized illustration of a skater.

On a silver-color base metal, the main logo pin measures approximately 1‑1/8″ in diameter (2.9 cm). It was the first circular-shaped pin to commemorate a European Championships since the small logo pin from the 1982 event in Lyon, France. A rich blue at the center of the pin contrasts well with the stylized illustration of a female skater’s legs with boots and blades in white. The shiny silver finish around the circumference of the pin allows the red lettering of the event name, location, and year to stand out: “European Figure Skating Championships, Copenhagen, 1986.”

In the lower third of the pin, the Danish flag (the Dannebrog) acts as a separating element between the event name and the location and year. At first glance, the flag appears to be used in mirror image-style on the left-hand side. Upon closer inspection and consideration, however, the intent may have been for the flag to be viewed in-line with the lettering, in which case the flag is correctly oriented.

It is unusual for the national flag of the host nation to be a design element on a figure skating pin, and the 1986 event was the first Europeans to do so since … the 1975 event in Copenhagen! The European Championships would return to Copenhagen in 1994, the last time to date that the Nordic city hosted the event. The Dannebrog does not appear on the 1994 Europeans pin.

Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1986 European Figure Skating Championship Pin: She’s Got Legs. And be sure to read the museum story for more information about figure skating pins.

Pins Gallery: 1986 European Figure Skating Championships

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