Badge and pin collectors grow at the Expo 2020 Dubai

DUBAI: With less than 40 days to go until Expo 2020 Dubai closes for the final time, the passion for collecting Expo memorabilia continues to grow stronger. First, it was the Expo passports and Expo-branded souvenirs and merchandise, such as models of Opti the robot. Now it is lapel pins and badges related to Expo and different country pavilions.

Age is certainly no bar when it comes to hunting for Expo memorabilia, as proven by eight-year-old schoolboy Andres Monclus Cuello, who has collected over 240 lapel pins, with 180 of them from national pavilions.

Andres, who hails from Spain and lives in Abu Dhabi, has made over 25 trips to Expo 2020 Dubai since the start of the global event, after coaxing his parents to drive him to Expo twice a week.

His enthusiasm is infectious, as he proudly shows the grey jacket with its front and sleeves dotted with pins and badges, weighing more than 3kg. The collection includes pins of dozens of Country Pavilions (Switzerland, India, Spain etc), as well as Expo logo pins.

Andres says: “I got inspired to collect Expo pins after I saw a man with several pins on his hat. I add to my collection by visiting new pavilions or by swapping with other visitors. Sometimes, my parents buy them for me, or some pavilions give them free of charge. I have visited 180 pavilions, and I plan to complete my target of 192 before the end of Expo.”

Davinder Singh, a 32-year-old Indian who works as a security guard in one of the pavilions, is another passionate collector. He has been collecting commemorative pin badges from every Country Pavilion he visits after work. His tally currently stands at 350 pins from 133 pavilions, and he hopes to add to his collection from all the pavilions, if time permits.

Boyko Novel, 34, from Bulgaria, who works as a host for the Netherlands Pavilion, is something of an Expo superfan, having worked at Expo 2015 Milan in the European Union Pavilion, and also visited the 2016 Horticultural Expo in Antalya in Turkey, and the 2017 ‘mini expo’ in Astana in Kazakhstan in 2017. Each time he visits a pavilion, he asks the organisers for one of their badges or pins.

Ziadul Hasan, a security guard at the Qatar Pavilion, proudly wears his Expo lapel pins on his lanyard. “I have collected pins from more than 80 national pavilions, including those from Mozambique, Morocco, UAE, Egypt, Lithuania and Jordan,” he says, jubilantly.

It is a tradition with most participating countries to design and stock souvenirs, such as lapel pins and magnets. While some give them away to visitors for free – sometimes only to those who ask – others reserve them for their guests and distinguished visitors. There are a handful of pavilions that sell these keepsakes for prices ranging from AED25 to AED75.

The Jordan Pavilion, for example, not only freely distributes pins that combine the flags of the UAE and Jordan but also gives visitors rubber bracelets. Nidal Al-Dabbas, Director of the Jordan Pavilion, said: “We want our visitors to have an exceptional experience, so we were keen to present souvenirs to commemorate their visit.”

Expo 2020 Dubai has also designed a whole range of branded merchandise, including lapel pins, which are extremely popular with collectors. These include pins of Expo mascots Rashid and Latifa, Themed Pavilions (Sustainability, Mobility, Terra), and the Expo logo in different designs, of which the gold-coloured version is so popular that the Official Stores replenish the stock every morning. The pins are priced at between AED25 and AED29.

Source: Expo 2020 Website