Pin Points - Latest Releases Commemorate Olympic Torch Relay

(ATR) As the Olympic Torch Relay heads into the second week of its 70-day tour around the UK, this month we take a look at the range of pins that have been released to celebrate the journey around the country.

Gold Logos

The London 2012 logo has been seen in many varieties of colour and infill since it was launched in 2007. The Olympic Torch Relay has generated another look for the logo, this time with a yellow and gold ‘flame’ effect on a white background. As well as the infill, the words ‘Olympic Torch Relay’ are also printed on the pin and the text and Olympic rings are picked out in gold. This latest design is proving very popular with customers with early batches of the pin selling out in some stores. The issue size of 50,000 means that it should be available for some time though.

As well as the flame logo pin, there is also a shiny gold version of the logo pin again with the ‘Olympic Torch Relay’ text on the pin. This version is limited to 100,000 pieces.

Wenlock and the Torch

The Olympic mascot, Wenlock, is available on a torch relay pin. He is shown running in the white and gold Torchbearer’s uniform holding an Olympic torch.

This design is available in either enamel or printed versions and in issue sizes of 50,000 and 150,000 pieces respectively.

Torch Relay Daily Pins

The entire UK torch relay will take 70 days to travel from Land’s End in the South West of England, via Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, the Scottish Islands, Isle of Man and Channel Islands to arrive at the Olympic Stadium. Each night the torch comes to rest at a celebration venue. To mark this nationwide journey, London 2012 are issuing a pin for every celebration venue on the route. They are also issuing pins for the days where the torch travels to the islands. The start of the relay at Land’s End is also represented on one of these pins. This means that there will be 75 pins issued in total to commemorate the entire torch relay. Each pin has the same design – a gold pin with a pictogram of a torchbearer in gold and black combined with a gold logo. Each day’s pin has the name of the overnight location or island and the date that the torch was there.

Every pin is available individually and each is limited to 2,012 pieces.

As well as the individual pins, a framed set will be available that contains all 75 pins. The set will show every pin on a background map of the UK with the Greater London area broken out into its own smaller inset map. The entire background uses the yellow and gold colours of the flame logo and makes a very impressive set. Orders are being taken for this set at the moment and they will be delivered once the torch relay is complete.

Coca Cola Relay and Celebration Pins

Three sponsor companies, Lloyds TSB, Samsung and Coca-Cola, present the Olympic torch relay. Olympic pin collectors will be very aware of Coca-Cola’s history with Olympic pins and London 2012 sees them issue a range of 12 retail pins to celebrate their involvement with the torch relay. The pins are available at selected celebration venues on the route.

They have a pin which shows Wenlock in his torch relay pose and also a slider pin where the flame moves between the start date of the torch relay and the date of the Opening Ceremony. Their third pin is gold with a map of the UK picked out in their distinctive red with an Olympic torch and London 2012 and Coca-Cola logos. These pins are limited to 10,000, 5,000 and 5,000 pieces respectively.

As part of the torch relay, Coca-Cola has a fleet of branded vehicles called the Beat Fleet. These fun but sustainable vehicles travel with and ahead of the torch to entertain the crowds along the route. Four of the vehicles have been captured as pins. The Beat Box is a large vehicle that travels about 30 minutes in front of the torch playing music. The two Mini-Beat vehicles travel about an hour in front of the torch to encourage people to line the route and the Beat Bus informs people about the Torchbearer running spots. All of these four pins are large and limited to 2,012 pieces. If any of the torch relay pins may be hard to find in the future, it may be these.

Coca-Cola will be hosting five city celebrations along the route in Cardiff, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds and London. To mark these events, they will be issuing a city pin at each of the five venues. These pins have the name of the city and date of the party as well as a gold logo and the ‘Move to the Beat’ wording that is art of Coca-Cola’s branding for London 2012. These pins are limited to 2,012 pieces for the first four cities and 5,000 for the London event.

Moment to Shine

The final pin in this article is, unlike the rest, not a retail pin. This one is a little harder to find as the Nations and Regions teams in London 2012 have issued it. The Moment to Shine pin has been issued to those people supporting the torch relay around the country. It is one of the smaller pins issued and combines a version of the flame logo pin with a gold geometric shape with the words ‘Moment to Shine’ in raised text. It is a very delicate pin, and although there is no information on the issue size, given its importance to those that receive it, this pin may be one of the more difficult ones for collectors to obtain.

This short summary is a review of the torch relay pins that are currently available. As the flame progresses around the country, it is entirely possible that new pins may become available.

As always, this article provides only a high level overview of the pins available. If you would like to see more, then take a look at the mascot pins page on the London Pins website.

Paul McGill runs the collectors’ website www.londonpins.co.uk. This non-commercial website aims to be the definitive source for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic pin information. The site contains a comprehensive catalogue of all the London Olympic pins as well as news articles and background on pins and pin collecting.

Visit the ATR Pin Points - London Collectibles webpage, dedicated to London 2012 pins.

Like us on Facebook!