Explore the history of enamel pins, from ancient craftsmanship to punk iconography.

Historical Pins: History of the Enamel Pin

Enamel pins, our specialty here at Strike Gently, are more than accessories. Even Coffee Frog. They’re wearable symbols of identity, allegiance, and artistry. Their history stretches from ancient civilization all the way to punk rock. What began as signifiers of military and political rank are now a blank canvas for subculture and individuality. I’ve always wanted to write a history of the evolution of pins, so here it goes…

Old School Badges of Power and Rank

The first enamel pins can be traced back to early enameling techniques from ancient Egypt, Greece, and China.

Egypt and China (1500 BCE - 500 BCE): Early cloisonné (an enameling technique using metal partitions, similar to our hard enamel pins) was used for jewelry. Chinese artisans mastered this technique during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, applying enamel to bronze and copper. The technique is remarkably similar to what we do today, but everything was done by hand.

Historical enamel pin in early cloisonné style from ancient Egypt and China, showcasing early pin history.

Rome and Byzantium: Metal badges and brooches evolved to signify military or administrative rank. They didn’t use enamel but laid the groundwork for wearable insignia as a fashion item.

Antique pin and insignia from the Roman and Byzantine empires used to signify rank.

Medieval Europe (9th–15th centuries): Knights and nobility used enameled medallions and badges as identifiers in battle or in court. Each piece imbued with meaning, loyalty, and honor. Sort of like how you wear the DON’T TALK TO COPS pin. Lol

Medieval historical pin worn by knights and nobility as badges of honor and identity.

Modern Pins

The Industrial Revolution introduced mass production techniques, making pins, brooches and badges accessible to everyone.

Cloisonné refinement: Advances in metallurgy and enameling during the 1800s led to the creation of cloisonné lapel pins that looked very similar to what we sell today, just with more boring designs. They did not have the forethought to invent something as brilliant as “3 raccoons in a trenchcoat”.

Vintage enamel pin from the 1800s with cloisonné technique, precursors to modern collectible pins.

Fraternal orders and military use: Groups like the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows, as well as European armies, used enamel pins for identification and ceremonial dress. Pins represented rank, achievements, or affiliations, a way of expressing identity..

Fraternal and military enamel badge representing affiliations—example of historical pin in ceremonial use.

Exposition souvenirs: With the rise of World’s Fairs and Expositions in the late 1800s (e.g., Paris 1889), souvenir pins became popular keepsakes, serving as both promotional tools and memory tokens. This spirit lives on today with Disney pins, collectible concert merch, and anime/game convention pins.

Early 20th-century historical enamel pin from World’s Fairs, used as souvenirs and collectibles.

Early 20th Century: Propaganda and Patriotism

Enamel pins, strangely enough, had a role in many of the political and social upheavals of the 20th century.

World Wars I and II: Soldiers wore enamel badges for unit identification and medals of valor. Civilians donned pins to support the troops—“Buy War Bonds” pins, flags, and service stars.

War-era vintage enamel pin used by soldiers and civilians during WWI and WWII.

Propaganda: Governments realized pins were ideal for spreading messages succinctly and visibly. Believe it or not, Allied and Axis powers all used enamel pins in various forms to communicate ideology. Now we sell the YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPAGANDA PIN as a sort-of nod to this.

Historical propaganda pins used by governments to spread ideological messages.

Unions and labor movements: Labor unions distributed enamel pins to signify membership and solidarity. These were often worn at work or during strikes, serving as both morale boosters and tools of defiance.

Historical union enamel pins representing labor solidarity and protest.

Mid 20th Century: Collectibles

Post-WWII consumerism ushered in a new era for enamel pins, which were embraced by corporations, many of which were run by veterans from the World Wars.

Corporate branding (1950s–70s): Businesses used enamel pins to reward employees, mark years of service, or promote products. Think airline wings, fast-food crew badges, and industry event souvenirs.

Mid-century corporate enamel pins—historical pins used for branding and employee recognition.

Olympic and sports memorabilia: The Olympic Games, particularly from the 1980s onward, saw a boom in enamel pin trading among fans, athletes, and officials. By the 1984 Los Angeles Games, pin trading had become an organized phenomenon.

Olympic trading pins from the 1980s—collectible historical enamel pins from global sports events.

Scouting and clubs: Organizations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Rotary, and Lions Clubs embraced pins for achievements and hierarchy. These were often displayed proudly on uniforms or sashes.

Achievement pins from Scouts and service clubs—classic examples of historical pins with hierarchy meaning.

Late 20th Century: Counterculture

Now for the fun stuff. As youth culture became more fragmented and diverse, enamel pins were adopted by subcultures to symbolize identity, individuality and taste.

Punk: Pins became part of the DIY aesthetic. Punk jackets, vests, and bags were covered in pins—each a badge of musical allegiance or anti-authoritarian sentiment. Same with metalheads and ravers.

DIY punk fashion jacket covered in subculture enamel pins and anti-authoritarian historical badges.

Zine and comic culture: Independent publishers and comic artists used pins as merch. These small items helped fund DIY publishing and represented niche interests and fandoms. Strike Gently started off selling at zine fairs and punk shows.

Indie artist pins sold at zine fairs—modern additions to historical pin culture.

Political activism: Queer and civil rights leaders, environmentalists and anti-war protestors all used enamel pins as personal expressions of resistance. A rainbow flag pin or “No Nukes” badge could speak volumes on a collar or backpack, especially in a crowd of “squares”. Not so different today. Normies beware.

Activist enamel pins from the civil rights and environmental movements—powerful historical pin symbols.

2010’s: Indie Renaissance

In the 2010s, enamel pins saw a resurgence in popularity, fueled by internet culture, millennial nostalgia, and social media. Enter stage left, Strike Gently.

Internet / DIY marketplaces: Artists began creating small-batch pins of their art. Self-hosted storefronts allowed them to reach global audiences with niche designs. In 2015 when we started there were hundreds of these little sellers, it was a real craze at the time. Most of them are gone now but a few stuck around.

Display of artist-made enamel pins in online marketplaces—continuing the legacy of historical pins.

Pop culture explosion: Licensed pins became ubiquitous, covering everything from Marvel to “The Office.” Unlicensed “inspired-by” pins flourished too, tapping into fandoms with humor and minimalism. Bootlegs are everywhere. It’s not our thing, nor are corporate partnerships, but we have to include this here because some of the most popular pins today are these pop culture pins. People even bootleg our stuff, like this goofy ass version of our goose pin:

Bootleg parody of the original Strike Gently goose pin—an example of enamel pin culture’s evolution.

Streetwear: Brands capitalized on the collectibility of pins and used limited releases as part of their drop schedule. Before I started SG I had a job making pins for a couple streetwear brands.

Limited-edition enamel pins used in streetwear collections—modern twist on collectible historical pins.

When I started making pins I didn’t know any of this history. I also didn’t know the resurgence in popularity that pins were seeing when I started would continue to evolve. Now I see people with pins EVERYWHERE. I see punks with punk pins, normies with normie pins, weirdos with weirdo pins, gays with gay pins, you name it. It’s a canvas through which you can express your identity, and we love how open-ended the design possibilities are, which is why we’ve designed and released over 2000 different designs over a decade. Here’s to the future. Pins aren’t going anywhere.

Thanks for reading :)

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