Profile: Lapel Pin – 1987 European Championships, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

Before war ravaged the Olympic city of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in the early to mid-1990s, the 1987 European Figure Skating Championships were held inside Zetra Arena and were marked with an unusual and somewhat perplexing pin that left many a collector asking, “That’s it?” The pin was such a departure in every way from those that had marked prior European Championships that surely, collectors thought, there must be another pin that is more like those from the past. But reality could not be denied.

The small, circular pin from the 1987 European Championships that left collectors scratching their heads shows a rabbit, in orange, tracing a perfect circle, done in blue, on a back outside edge. The event name, year, and location—things traditionally included on pins—are inexplicably missing. Yes, there have been pins issued for prior major events that do not contain key details (the stickpins from the 1973 World Figure Skating Championships being good examples), but the pins that lacked those things were augmented by other pins from the same event that did feature those details. So they worked in conjunction to tell the story. Here, the single, unmarked pin leaves a significant part of the story untold unless one happens to know what the pin commemorated in the first place. And that is highly unlikely today.

Those who attended the 1987 European Figure Skating Championships attested that the rabbit was indeed the symbol seen at the event and that only this pin was available.

Those who attended the event attested that the rabbit was indeed the symbol seen at the event and that only this pin was available. Seeming to confirm that fact is that The Curator of The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins has not seen any other pin from this event emerge over the past 36 years. On a gold-color base metal, the happy rabbit pin measures approximately 3/4″ in diameter (1.9 cm).

To paraphrase another rabbit, “That’s it, folks!”

Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1987 European Figure Skating Championships Pin: That’s It? And be sure to read the museum story for more information about figure skating pins.

Pin Gallery: 1987 European Figure Skating Championships

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