1960 World Figure Skating Championships Pins: Beautiful British Columbia.

Last Updated on February 17, 2024 by Netropolitan Museum

Event was the first world meet hosted by Canada since 1932

Vancouver, Canada, welcomed more than 80 of the world’s elite figure skaters to British Columbia in March to compete in the final ritual of winter: the World Championships. The pins produced to commemorate the 1960 World Figure Skating Championships feature intersecting, superimposed ovals that mirror the fascination with global travel and space-related, atomic-style pictography seen in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Pins Gallery: 1960 World Figure Skating Championships

Shown in the following gallery are two pins issued to commemorate the 1960 World Championships: the main logo pin on a silver-color base metal with light-blue enamel fill and a second pin, likely a limited-edition version given to event officials, on a bronze-color metal in relief. The pins are identical in design and feature a portion of the world globe with focus on North America. The event year, name, and location are around the circumference: “1960 World Figure Skating Championships Vancouver Canada.” A thin blue border encloses the pin.

In the next gallery is a pin made for and issued to Geoffrey Yates, a British Olympic competitor in 1936 and a judge for Great Britain for the men’s event at the 1960 World Championships. The pin is comprised of a printed laminated badge at the top with the main logo design tinted in the background and the judge’s name and country layered over in black. Attached to the badge is a royal purple ribbon with the word “Judge” in gold foil. This is a more homespun version of a judges’ pin compared to those issued at other events, although a significant difference here is the personalization. See the blog about the 1952 European Figure Skating Championships for an example of a high-quality metal and cloisonne pin that was personalized for Walter Jakobsson, a judge that year.

Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1960 World Figure Skating Championships Pins: Beautiful British Columbia.

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on July 4, 2020, and has been updated with new and expanded information.

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