Profile: Lapel Pins – 1970 World Championships, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

Just three years before the 1970 World Figure Skating Championships were contested in the Yugoslavian town of Ljubljana, the 1967 European Figure Skating Championships had taken place there, the first major international figure skating event held in Yugoslavia. So it was quite a step up for the Soviet-bloc nation to then host the World Championships, which brought together some 112 skaters from 15 nations in early March of that year. The 1970 World Figure Skating Championships event was marked by a number of unique, two-sided lapel pins, similar in that regard to what was seen at the 1967 European Championships. A two-sided redux, if you will.

A couple of interesting things about figure skating pins that often stand out are the design influences or concepts sometimes used or reused for branding. In fact, that’s the case here, where the 1970 World Championships pins feature the highly stylized skate blade design that represents the country’s skating federation and is seen on the federation pin from the era and still used on the federation website today.

The 1970 World Figure Skating Championships event was marked by a number of unique, two-sided lapel pins, similar in that regard to what was seen at the 1967 European Championships.

In today’s gallery are 11 pins from the 1970 World Championships. First up is the main logo pin, measuring approximately 9/16″ square (1.4 cm). On a gold-color base metal, the pin features a white enamel background with a gold, curly-toed skate blade logo covering nearly 50% of the area. Above the blade is the event year: “1970.” The design balance is pleasing and works well. On the reverse of the pin is the location: “Ljubljana, Jugoslavia.” Interestingly, the event name is not used on the pin, one of only very few pins from a World Figure Skating Championships to not include the event name.

Next is a series of large, special-issue pins produced for and given only to those with a named role in the event, all of which would have been produced in limited number. Each of these pins measures approximately 1‑1/8″ x 1‑7/16″ (2.9 cm x 3.7 cm), and all are two-sided with the event name and location on the reverse: “World Championships, Ljubljana, Jugoslavia.” Both sides of the ISU pin are shown as an example. Like the logo pin, the face of the pins carry the stylized skate blade logo and the event year: “1970.” Each of the larger pins features a special designation in color, and shown in the gallery are:

“ISU” (“International Skating Union”)
“Sodnik” (“Referee” – two different colors)
“Ekipa” (“Team” – two different colors)
“Vodstvo” (“Leadership”)
“Komisija” (“Organizing Committee”)
“Izvedba” (“Event Manager”)
“Press” (“Press”)
“RTV” (state television)

Thanks to the Zveza Drsalnih Športov Slovenije for help with translations of some of the designations on the special-issue pins.

Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1970 World Figure Skating Championships Pins: Two-Sided Redux. And be sure to read the museum story for more information about figure skating pins.