Many Olympic pins are issued by a participating country's National Olympic Committee ("NOC"). Sometimes NOC pins are dated for a particular games, sometimes not. Highly prized but almost impossible to find are participation pins, given only to Olympic athletes.

	Yes, it's a big pin with beautiful detail! This is an undated NOC pin from Thailand. The image doesn't do justice to the vibrant colors. A regal pin.
	I love this Balfour pin called the "Canadian Continental" pin. It depicts a map of Canada with a golden Atlanta '96 logo. I don't believe it is an official NOC pin, but certainly represents Canada well.

This pin is actually a set of pins that fit together like a puzzle. Issued by the Israeli Olympic Committee for the Salt Lake 2002 winter games, one piece has the Salt Lake bid logo, another has the Israeli flag, a third piece has the Olympic rings, and the last piece completes the shield-shaped puzzle.
The old USSR lives on in pins, like this one from the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble. Unlike later Soviet NOC pins I've seen, this one doesn't have the hammer and sickle emblem.

Having been born in 1964 of part Polish ancestry, I was thrilled to come upon this 1964 Poland NOC strick pin. Above the rings is "TOKIO" (Tokyo), site of the games the summer of my birth. Below is the year flanked by streamers representing the Polish bi-color flag.

Sydney, Australia will host the next summer games in 2000, so we went out in search of a so-called "bridge pin" signifying the current host city and its successor. We didn't find one, but the nice people at the Australian Postal Service store in Atlanta had this small pin showing their logo and national flag atop the Olympic rings. It is not dated and makes no mention of Atlanta. I wonder if this also qualifies as a sponsor pin?

David traded for this pin, which depicts the American flag, "Atlanta 96," and the Olympic rings over a symbol of the Swiss flag. We don't know where this was issued, but since there would be no reason for the U.S. to issue a pin jointly with Switzerland, it can probably be presumed that it is Swiss, with the American flag representing the host country.

I like this USA flag pin, which came with a set of Atlanta '96 pins. Its relatively small size makes it an appropriate pin for wearing on a lapel.

Other NOC and country pins
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Algeria - undated Australia - undated Austria - Nagano 1998 Belarus - undated Brazil - Seoul 1988 Canada - undated     (may be from Montreal 1976) Canada - undated     (may be from Montreal 1976) Canada - Nagano 1998 Czech Republic - Barcelona 1992 East Germany - undated East Germany - undated East Germany - undated Ethiopia - Atlanta 1996 Georgia - Atlanta 1996 Israel - Salt Lake City 2002 Japan - undated     (may be from Tokyo 1964) Japan - Tokyo 1964

Korea - Tokyo 1964 Monaco - Atlanta 1996 Poland - undated Poland - undated Poland - 1980 Poland - Calgary 1988 Russia - undated Poland - 1980 Slovenia - Lillehammer 1994 Sweden - undated Tajikistan - Atlanta 1996 Turkey - Atlanta 1996 Ukraine - 1996 USA - Mexico City 1968 USA - Lake Placid 1980 USA - Atlanta 1996 USA - Atlanta 1996 USA - undated USA - undated USA - undated

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This page updated on July 5, 2003 by Kelly A. Jefferson.