1986 Canadian Figure Skating Pins: North Bay Gateway.

Last Updated on July 4, 2026 by Netropolitan Museum

Logo and competitor pins that marked the Canadian Championships

Calling itself “Gateway of the North,” the city of North Bay, Ontario, hosted Canada’s figure skating elite for the national championships in early 1986. It had been nearly a quarter century since the event was last held in the small lakeside town. Like many major competitions of the time (or before and after), the event was memorialized with lapel pins. The 1986 Canadian Figure Skating Championships pins, if nothing else, dutifully did their job of marking the occasion. They are not the worst pins ever produced for a figure skating event, to be sure. If you’re a regular reader of The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins, you will already have seen some of the least-inspired examples featured in these blogs.

An oval shape, the second in as many years for the annual event, was used for the pins, which were done in a bright color palette of white, blue, and yellow. A touch of red also appears and, if you guessed it is found in the maple leaf, then you’re a Canadian figure skating pin pro. At the center of the main logo pin, in yellow, are figure skaters in classic poses—the female in a stag jump, the male in a deep crossover. Their fingertips meet at an apex as they seem to support the logo of the Canadian Figure Skating Association,¹ which appears almost torch-like. Split across a banner to the left and right is the event location: “North Bay.” At the bottom are the event year and name: “1986 Canadians” (note that a maple leaf, barely discernible, serves as the third “a” in Canadians). The background of the pin, set on a gold-color base metal, is divided into white and blue, creating a keyhole effect.

Pins Gallery: 1986 Canadian Figure Skating Championships

A second pin, incorporating the same design as the main logo pin, was produced for the event but is specifically marked “Competitor” in a semi-circular banner at the bottom. There may have been other similar pins produced for officials connected with the championships, something commonly seen at skating events of the era. Slightly narrower but taller than the logo pin, the competitor issue is also struck on a gold-color base metal. Among 1986 Canadian Figure Skating Championships pins, it is the scarcer of the two examples shown here. This pin comes from the collection of a former Canadian men’s champion and was acquired through a former Canadian ladies champion.

While not especially innovative in design, the 1986 Canadian Figure Skating Championships pins remain representative examples of how national championships were commemorated during the era. Their bright colors and straightforward imagery offer a small but tangible connection to an important event in Canadian skating history.

¹In 1986, the national governing body for figure skating in Canada was called the Canadian Figure Skating Association (CFSA); today, the organization is known as Skate Canada.

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on May 20, 2023, and has been updated with new and expanded information.

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