12/2: Team GB Sochi Pin - Official Team Pin

Thanks to a reader 'in the know', I can now share details of the official team pin given to Sochi athletes. Visually, it's almost identical to the retail one mentioned in the previous blog post.

Internal Team GB Pin

Retail Team GB Pin

The main difference between them is the internal pin does not have the excess metal around the rings and 'Sochi 2014'. The rear of the internal pin is marked 'Better Never Stops' just like the London 2012 internal pins issued to the athletes. The internal pin is also a gold colour. I have no information on the manufacturer of either version or issue sizes of each pin.

Many thanks to the reader who got in touch with the details and the image.

UPDATE: The retail pins available from the Team GB shop have the back stamp 'Better Never Stops' and not GBPINS14 as first thought.

8/11: Catalogue Update - Media Pins and More

For those of you that thought you'd never see an update to the the media section of the catalogue, I'm pleased to announce that I've finally made all the updates.

I can't claim much credit for the details - I'm indebted to Tom for almost all the information and images - thank you Tom.

It's taken me a while to get it finished, for which I apologise, but I've taken a day off work to get it sorted. The updates were all broadcast pins with one press pin added too. I'm happy that every pin I know about is on the site now. So, as usual, if you have anything I've missed, please let me know.

Click here to take a look at the broadcast section.

In addition to the media update, there are some other additions too...

Commemorative - the rare logo pin 0442 has been added

IOC/IPC - Mandeville pin

Partner  - Coca-Cola/Innocent smoothie pins and 3 P&G pins

Other - Anton Bauer pins

And finally, I've added the Samsung Collectors Board pins that were everywhere during the Games.
Like some of the other pins on the site - they weren't official London 2012 pins, but played a major part in pin trading, so it's only right to add them. The details are there now and the images will be added on Sunday - I ran out of daylight today!

These Samsung pins are on their own page - Click here to take a look.

So, for now, the online catalogue is pretty much up to date. If you think I'm missing something them please get in touch.

The pin trading lists have been updated with these changes too.

23/2: New ODA Pins

Ok, so we thought the Games were over, the ODA wrapped up and all those internal pins had been seen. How wrong we were!

Thanks to a reader, 2 more ODA pins have been discovered. These ones were issued by the facilities management team and come in Olympic and Paralympic versions.

ODA0035

ODA0036

Each pin features a saw, plunger, a screwdriver and a hammer in a tool box along with a Games logo. These pins were issued in December 2012 and I have no details on how many of each were issued at present.

27/1: Regional Pins - Classification

As I mentioned earlier, the website has been updated today with the Regional pins. Whilst going through the catalogue today, it struck me, that we can now see a classification of the regional pins and I have therefore slightly amended the names. Hopefully the following explains.

The original issue in 2009 from the regions was 12 pins  - one for each of the Nations & Regions committees. However, not all 12 of the regions were actually prepared to pay for their pins to be issued, so only 8 were ever manufactured. London, Scotland, South West and West Midlands pins were never taken past the prototype stage.

Version 1 pin - No shards on the main panel

Each of these pins featured a coloured Olympic logo against a plain silver geometric shape and the name of the region in the same colour as the logo. The 'London' and Olympic rings in the logo are metal. On the catalogue I now refer to these as version 1 pins an they are numbered REG0001 - REG0012.

Then, closer to the Games in 2011 and 2012, more 'regional' pins were issued, but this time they were aligned to towns, cities or counties who were hosting events as well as the regions. It seems that some areas embraced pins and issued multiples with both Olympic and Paralympic varieties. Others were more modest with a single pin.

These pins have been classified as version 2 in the catalogue and start with pin REG001. These pins once again combine a logo with a silver geometric shape containing the host name, but this time, the silver shape contains coloured shards in the London 2012 branding in the colour of the logo. The 'London' and Olympic rings in the logo are printed.

All of the version 2 pins can be sub-divided into one of 5 designs as shown below...

Version 2 - Design 1

Version 2 - Design 2

Version2 - Design 3

Version 2 - Design 4

Version 2 - Design 5

From what I can tell, all the version 2 pins fall into one of these designs. It's worth noting that design 2 and 5 are very similar, the only difference I can see is that design 2 contains 2 small shards top left and one large shard on the right, whereas design 5 has all 3 shards at the top of the pin.

Check out the Regional page on the website and please let me know if you have any pins that are not listed - either new towns or different colours of existing pins.

27/1: Website Updates - Internal Pins

The website has had another sizeable update today - this time for internal pins.

The catalogue is now complete (as far as I have information) for the following pins

LOCOG
ODA
Regional
TeamGB / Paralympics GB

Click on the links above to view the pages.

If you have any pins, images or details that you cannot find on these pages, please let me know as I may have missed them.

There were a few updates too to some of the partner pages, most notably to the Dow page where I have now listed all 33 country Opening Ceremony pins. I still need good quality photos of the open pins if anyone has some to share.

As always, thanks to everyone who has helped provide information and especially to the reader who helped out with the internal and regional pins.

24/6: New Internal Pins

News of four new internal pins has surfaced this week thanks to readers.

LOCOG have issued pins to celebrate the London 2012 festival which started last Thursday and to recognise the anti-doping unit.

LOC0036 - Anti-doping pin

LOC0050 - London 2012 Festival pin

The anti-doping pin shows two sample capsules marked A and B. The festival pin is a smaller version of the retail pin 1065 with the word 'Festival' in pink rather than white.

Meanwhile the ODA have issued two pins, one in the 'Great Team Effort' range, this time marking the Water Polo centre, and the other to recognise the Town Planning team.

ODA0033 - Water Polo centre

ODA0034 - Town Planning

The town planning pin shows the outline of the Olympic Park broken up into the many planning development zones that make up the park. These zones allow the town planning team to easily refer to the approximate locations of the various planning applications that are made across the Park.

I have no information on the issue sizes of any of these pins at the moment.

4/4: Internal Torch Relay Pin

I spotted an Olympic Torch really pin on eBay today which is advertised as internal to LOCOG.

This pin uses a 'flame' version of the logo over a gold shard with the text 'Moment to shine'. There is no pin number on the back, but it does have TM and manufacturer details which means it mirrors the backstamp of the regional pins.

The auction finishes on Easter Sunday - click here for the eBay link

Thanks to 12e01a68m, for allowing me to use the image

21/3: ODA Pin Backstamps

Some of you may be aware of a number of ODA pins being sold on eBay without the usual pattern and backstamp. The reason given for this is that ODA pins are being faked and that real pins are now being made with this new back to make them more difficult to copy.

I have confirmed today with an official source that all the genuine ODA pins have the usual repeating pattern and Honav backstamp seen on every other ODA pin.

So if you see these pins on eBay and you're happy with the design and the price, then fair enough. But please don't think you are buying a genuine pin issued by the ODA to their staff and contractors.

Thanks to a reader for sharing the image of one of these pins.

14/3: Local Leaders Pin

About a month ago, I wrote about the Local Leaders programme and the pin they were issuing. The pins have now started to arrive.

The pin combines a pink shard shape with 'Local Leaders' printed on it, a map pin - a symbol used in the Local Leaders programme and a pair of London 2012 logos.

The backstamp indicates that this is an internal pin - it is number LOC0033. There are no details of the issue size printed on the pin.

Thanks to Robert for the image and the details.

12/2: Nations and Regions pins

A new pin issued by the Nations and Regions team within LOOCG has been spotted. This one is a map of the UK in the London 2012 style with both games and Paralympic Games logos.

I have no information on issue size or reference at the moment. I presume this has been issued centrally rather than by one or more of the regions. 

Thanks to a reader for this information.

22/1: New LOCOG Internal Pins

At the pin meet on Saturday, 2 new internal pins were spotted.

LOC0019

LOC0027

The first, LOC0019, recognises the Catering, Cleaning and Waste team. It shows Wenlock with a mop, chef's hat, serving dish and recycling bin. I'm told there are 4 pins in this set in each colour of the logo. I'm not sure if they are all the same design or have the same backstamp number. 

The other, LOC0027, recognises the Finance team. This one shows Wenlock carrying a calculator displaying the number '2012'.

I do not know the issue sizes of either of these pins, however recently pins like this have been defined as 'Not Limited' as they could be reordered at any time.

11/1: No new Team GB pin for the Youth Winter Games

In case anyone was hoping for a new Team GB pin for the Youth Winter Games staring this weekend, I've had it confirmed today that a new design was not issued. The athletes and officials competing in Innsbruck from this weekend will be wearing the TGB0002 pin originally issued for the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore back in 2010.

13/12: New Regional Pin

Thanks to a reader, here's news of another LOCOG regional pin. Even though the North West region issued a pin (REG0005) back in 2009, it seems that another has appeared.

Pin REG0019

The pin shape and logo colour is the same as the previous version, but the text of "North West" has now been replaced with "England's Northwest". Not only that, but the same reader believes that 2 other North West pin exist too. There's no information as to whether this is a new pin or if it was issued at the same time as the original.

11/11: New ODA Park Pins

On Wednesday, 2 more in the ODA Olympic Park series of pins were released. These pins recognise the Structures, Bridges and Highways (SBH) team.

Pin ODA0029

Pin ODA0030

As with previous ODA Park pins, they come in Olympic and Paralympic varieties and show a cross section through a bridge (I think - Pippin help me out please!). They were issued at a 'Thank You' event on Wednesday. There are a number already on eBay!

22/9: Partner Workshop Pin

The third version of partner workshop pins has been spotted. The workshop took place over the last two days and attendees were presented with this pin.

Pin LOC0017

No word on issue size at the moment, but the previous pins in this series were each limited to 300 pieces.

13/8: ODA 'Black Hat' Pins

A new ODA pin was spotted today. Based on the existing 'Builder's Hat' pins, this one represents the Athletes Village construction supervisors (foremen) who wear black hats for ease of identification.

Apologies for the quality of the photo. The pin consists of a black builder's hat with the words 'Black Hat' written across it and a blue logo. The hat is shown in front of a shard which contains the words 'Athletes Village'.

Thanks to a reader for this information.

28/7: Sponsor & Internal 1 Year To Go Round Up

A busy day for 1 Year to Go pins yesterday. Thanks to excellent and persistent detective work by some readers, here's news of what was released yesterday.

An internal 1 Year To Go pin was issued to all LOCOG and ODA staff

This is pin LOC0015 and has the words 'Thank You' printed on the back

Next a range of sponsor pins from Lloyds, Cadbury, Eurostar and EDF (no picture yet)

The Eurostar pin comes in 3 colours - yellow, white and blue and I believe the picture is the same on each. 

If anyone knows of any other sponsor or internal pins issued yesterday, please get in touch (with a photo if you can).

10/7: New Internal Pins

Some of you may have noticed some additions to the internal catalogue over the past few days, as there have been a few new LOCOG and ODA pins spotted. For those that haven't, here's a round-up.

From LOCOG come 2 pins from the Rate Card team. For those that don't know, when visiting media and NOCs attend the Games they can order items such as office equipment or electrical appliances that they need. The rate card team fulfil those orders (I think that's it anyway!). Hence the rate card pins show Wenlock and Mandeville with a shopping trolley - obviously collecting items for an order.

Pin LOC0012

Pin LOC 0013

The next pin from LOCOG is too mark the second Licensing and Retail workshop that took place last month. Not sure of the significance of the tour bus though, maybe the delegates were taken on a park tour?

Pin LOC0014

Next from the ODA comes two pins (one logo and one Paralympic logo) of the Olympic Stadium. These are the latest in the 'Great Team Effort' pins given to workers in the park.

Pin ODA0013

Finally 2 'Arts and Culture' pins (with logo and Paralympic logo versions) to recognise the pieces of art being installed in the park I think.

Pin ODA0024

23/5: More ODA 'Great Team Effort' Pins

Two more of the ODA team effort pins have been spotted today.

Pin ODA 0016

Pin ODA 0017

These pins each come in Logo and Paralympic Logo versions like previous pins and each pin shares the same number between the 2 logo versions.

I'm told that the dump truck pin was issued to construction staff working in the 'Enabling Works' and 'Structures, Bridges and Highways' teams and the trees pin was issued to those working on 'Landscape and Public Realm'

As usual, no word on issue sizes for these pins.

12/5: ODA Learning Legacy Pins

Two more ODA pins have been spotted today.

This from Pippin on the message board...

These pins will be handed out by the ODA to reward good contributions to London 2012's commitment to provide an important learning legacy for how future major events are planned and managed, covering not just construction related topics but also issues such as diversity, environment, ethical procurement, sustainability, health, safety and welfare.


Along one arm are the words "raising the bar", to signify the achievement of higher standards.

Both pins are numbered ODA0015.