1963 Cortina Figure Skating Pins: World Championships on Italian Ice.

Last Updated on February 14, 2026 by Netropolitan Museum

A collectible legacy from Cortina’s glamorous championship

The very name Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, evokes images of elegance and excitement. Picture skiers carving through pristine Alpine slopes, shoppers browsing high-end boutiques in the town center, and diners savoring exquisite international cuisine. As Cortina once again finds itself in the global spotlight as host of the Winter Olympics, it’s a fitting moment to look back at an earlier chapter in its sporting history: the 1963 World Figure Skating Championships, an event that brought even more glamour and prestige to this jet-set destination. Among the many collectibles from that storied competition, the 1963 World Figure Skating Championships pins stand out as striking mementos of the sport’s pinnacle event staged in Cortina. We’ll take a look at those pins in today’s blog.

Pins Gallery: 1963 World Figure Skating Championships

Much like Cortina itself, the pins issued for the 1963 World Championships are nothing short of impressive. Their sheer size alone sets them apart, immediately demanding attention. In fact, aside from the officials pins produced for the 1972 European Figure Skating Championships, they are ranked among the largest known to The Curator of The Netropolitan. Designed to be worn on a thick winter coat—a necessity during Cortina’s crisp late-February nights—the pins required a sturdy double-pinback mechanism to secure them firmly in place.

In the gallery below, you’ll find four variations of pins issued for the Cortina 1963 World Figure Skating Championships, each bearing a special designation. The first reads Competitor (“Concorrente”), the second Official (“Ufficiale”), the third Organizing Committee (“Organizzazione”), and the fourth Press (“Stampa”). Each title is highlighted in a different color, drawn from the skate blade tracings

The design of the Cortina pin is a masterclass in storytelling, weaving together elements of the sport, the venue, and the breathtaking Dolomite landscape. Across the top, abbreviations for the host and sanctioning organizations—F.I.S.G. (Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio), C.O.N.I. (Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano), and I.S.U. (International Skating Union)—clearly establish authority. The centerpiece features a stylized mountain range, its light blue peaks evoking the majesty of the southern Alps, rising above a depiction of the outdoor stadium where skaters competed. This very same venue hosted the figure skating events of the 1956 Olympic Winter Games, lending an extra layer of historical significance. Beneath the stadium, the word “Cortina” appears in bold blue, resting atop a white skate blade. From the blade, sweeping arcs of color—green, red, blue, black, and yellow—gracefully mimic the tracings left by skaters on the ice, while the pin’s cool, bluish-silver finish subtly mirrors the frozen surface itself. At the bottom, the event’s full title, “Campionati del Mondo di Pattinaggio Artistico e Danza su Ghiaccio, 28 Febb. – 3 Marzo 1963,” is neatly inscribed.

Like the pins created for the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships, the multi-colored tracings borrow their hues from the Olympic rings. Although those colors traditionally symbolize the universality of sport, for the Cortina pin, they may also represent figure skating’s global reach—a discipline uniting athletes and fans worldwide.

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on August 22, 2020, was updated on February 1, 2025, and has been updated again with new and expanded information.

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