1975 European Figure Skating Pins: On Dressing Warmly.

Last Updated on October 26, 2024 by Netropolitan Museum

Championship in Copenhagen was marked by several unique lapel pins

Denmark, the smallest of the five Nordic countries and famous for Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid (not the silly Disney version, the real Den Lille Havfrue), Legos, Tivoli Gardens, and all things hygge, saw Europe’s best figure skaters gather in February 1975 in the capital city of Copenhagen for that continent’s annual championships. History has remembered the 1975 European Figure Skating Championships with several small and delightful pins that call on both skating tradition and practices from the past.

Pins Gallery: 1975 European Figure Skating Championships

Shown in the gallery are four pins from the event. Each is identical in design, with a variation appearing along the bottom. The first pin shown is the main logo pin and likely was sold at the event while the next three are special-issue versions made exclusively for those associated with the event. Note the designations: ISU, Competitor, and Press. As is seen on other special-issue pins from events held in Europe, these designations are written in English.

On each pin, the central form represents a judge, who holds up a “7” and a “5”—a play on when judges manually presented a skater’s marks. And according to a former president of the Danish Skating Union (Dansk Skøjte Union), the figure represents an earlier time in the sport when judges needed to dress extra warmly because competitions were held outdoors, often on lakes, or because they needed to stand on or be seated on the ice while judging. Hence, bulky clothing and woven reed shoes were worn to help combat the elements.

The judge’s brightly colored clothing contrasts well with the black background of the pin and lends an elegant look. Curiously, the pin displays no other element of the sport such as a skate blade, boot, tracings, or a figure skater, all of which are commonly seen on other event pins. The event name and year are worked in cleanly and simply: “EM 75” (EM meaning “Europæisk Mesterskab” in Danish, or European Championships). The Danish flag (the Dannebrog) accents the upper right corner of the pin and perfectly balances the design.

The 1975 European Championships may be most notable for the rise of John Curry of Great Britain, who placed second at the event and famously went on complete the well-deserved triple crown in 1976: European, Olympic, and World Champion.

[Særlig bemærkning: Tak til Dansk Skøjte Union for deres hjælp med pindetaljer og historie.]

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on September 12, 2020, and has been updated with new and expanded information.

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