There's probably even a pin in there that represents her love of pins...
Joanna: That's where you know, suspenders and buttons and all sorts of stuff. We're, uh, we're actually required to wear fifteen pieces of flair. Quite stupid actually.
Peter: Do you get to pick them out yourself?
Joanna: Yeah. Yeah. Although I didn't actually choose these. I, uh, I just grabbed fifteen buttons and, uh, I don't even know what they say! Y'know, I don't really care. I don't really like talking about my flair.
Peter: Do you get to pick them out yourself?
Joanna: Yeah. Yeah. Although I didn't actually choose these. I, uh, I just grabbed fifteen buttons and, uh, I don't even know what they say! Y'know, I don't really care. I don't really like talking about my flair.
Clothing Reflects Personality, but some require even more. The Soapbox Sadie wears their many political convictions in slogan pins and political symbols. Fanboys and Fangirls advertise the works or creators they admire, and music fans — particularly fans of different Rock sub-genres — their favorite bands and artists. The Stoner might have a huge patch of a pot leaf on their back pack. Someone might represent their personal Queer Colors with a pin or bracelet. The individualist in a conformist organization bedecks their Non-Uniform Uniform or Custom Uniform with these. Bumper Stickers are a classic personalization of personal property, but stickers also find their way to the skater's Cool Board and the Playful Hacker's laptop. Sometimes a Friendship Trinket is used to establish a relationship between characters. National Flags can be worn on sleeves or bags to signify someone as a tourist or Foreign Exchange Student, or as someone more nationalist if worn while on home soil.
Sometimes the flair is generic, including pins of just block color or simple geometric shapes, Sigil Spam for an in-universe faction, or a random selection, where just the presence of a bunch of pins is meant to signify personality or subcultural identity, often a feature of The Quincy Punk, or a character who dresses like a Rummage Sale Reject.
The flair can also have relevance to the story. Maybe something dropped at a crime scene or seen in surveillance footage can be a Signature Item Clue. Sometimes a character can end up a Icon of Rebellion and a pin of their face, name or symbol seen on different people.
Similar to a portable version of Poster-Gallery Bedroom, and an extension of a Fun T-Shirt. Not to be confused with more official "flair" like a Chest of Medals, although medals can be co-opted for a subversives statement. Tough Spikes and Studs can be used to establish much the same. Comical Coffee Cup is a common workplace replacement for self-expression.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The Pretty Cure franchise loves Frills of Justice, so each Cure has at least one accessory showing their personality.
- Futari wa Pretty Cure: Cure Black and Cure White wear fingerless gloves; tomboyish Cure Black has arm warmer, while feminine Cure White has fancy gloves.
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star: The two Cures both wear big hair charms that match their colour schemes; Cure Bloom has a magenta heart, and Cure Egret has a teal butterfly.
- Yes! Pretty Cure 5: To show their closeness and them being the oldest members of the group, Cure Mint and Cure Aqua wear matching butterfly headdresses.
- Fresh Pretty Cure!: As love is a core theme of the series, the Cures all wear heart charms in their hair; Cure Peach and Cure Passion have two on the sides of their heads, while Cure Berry and Cure Pine have one holding their ponytails. Cure Pine's charm is also attached to a bow.
- HeartCatch Pretty Cure!: The show has a heavy Flower Motif, so each Cure sans Marine wears a flower in their respective colours in their hair. Cure Blossom and Cure Sunshine have theirs attached to bows.
- Suite Pretty Cure ♪: The first two Cures, Cure Melody and Cure Rhythm, have matching bows on their heads, while the latecomers, Cure Beat and Cure Muse, have individual headdresses adorned with a heart charm.
- Smile PreCure!: To match the show's fairy tale theme, all five Cures wear a small white princess tiara.
- Doki Doki! PreCure: The Cures each wear a heart charm, since "doki doki" means "heartbeat", and below it is a ruffle with their respective card themes; Cure Heart has another heart, Cure Diamond has a diamond, Cure Rosetta has a clover, and Cure Sword has a spade.
- HappinessCharge Pretty Cure!: Cure Princess wears a tiny tiara, since she is, of course, a princess.
- Go! Princess Pretty Cure: The Princess Cures wear gold tiaras with a charm representing their themes; Cure Flora has a flower, Cure Mermaid has a seashell, and Cure Twinkle has a star.
- Maho Girls PreCure!: Witchcraft is a core theme, so Cure Miracle and Cure Magical both wear tiny witch hats.
- KiraKira★Precure à la Mode: Each Cure wears an Animal-Eared Headband with their respective theme animal; Cure Whip has bunny ears, Cure Custard has squirrel ears, Cure Gelato has lion ears, Cure Macaron has cat ears, and Cure Chocolat has dog ears.
- HuGtto! Pretty Cure: Since Cure Etoile's outfit is inspired by flight attendants, she wears a tiny blue stewardess hat.
- Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure: To fit the outer space theme, every Cure wears a star accessory on their heads, except for Cure Selene who has a moon instead.
- Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure: Nodoka wears a pink flower clip in her hair, hinting at her secret identity as Cure Grace.
- Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure: The Cures each have a hair accessory themed around summertime; Cure Summer has a tropical flower, Cure Coral has a sailor's hat, Cure Papaya has a butterfly, and Cure Flamingo has a flamingo's wing.
- Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure: The feminine Cure Precious and Cure Spicy wear big bows, while the tomboy Cure Yum-Yum wears two red bun covers.
- Soaring Sky! PreCure: Cure Sky wears a crown of wings to match Princess Elle's wing-shaped pigtails, since she is meant to protect the princess. When Elle becomes Cure Majesty, she gets a crown of wings too.
- Wonderful Pretty Cure!: The Cures' bows each match the colour of their best friend; Cure Wonderful has a purple bow for Iroha, Cure Friendy has a pink bow for Komugi, Cure Nyammy has a teal bow for Mayu, and Cure Lillian has a blue bow for Yuki.
- You and Idol Pretty Cure♪: As they are Idol Singers, the Cures always wear microphone headsets.
- Star Detective Pretty Cure!: Cure Answer and Cure Mystique wear tiny bows that look more like traditional ties, to match the sherlock aesthetic.
Asian Animation
- Catch! Teenieping: All Teeniepings are identified by their frilly collars.
- Noonbory and the Super 7: Cozybory, the most cutesy and feminine of the Super 7, is the only one who wears an accessory; a red headband.
Comic Books
- Archie Comics: Jughead's distinguishing trademark is a sort of ratty crown that might once have been the crown of a hat, which is further personalized with badges and pins attached to it.
- Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Boom! Studios): Plepra is always identified by the flower over her left ear, showing her kindness.
- Watchmen: Eddie "The Comedian" Blake wears a yellow smiley face button on both his super hero outfit, and on his bathrobe when lounging at home. This is how the button gets the iconic splash of blood on it when Adrian Veidt kills him at the beginning of the story. Rorschach picks up the badge from the gutter and shows it to Dan "Nite Owl" Dreiberg to prove that the murdered Eddie was The Comedian. Dan brings out the badge when talking with Laurie, and ultimately tosses the badge into Eddie's grave at the funeral.
Fan Works
- Angel of the Bat III: Da Pacem Domine: In addition to her emotionally significant set of dog tags, Sadie wears a cheap, rainbow-colored bead bracelet she found in a forgotten corner of Cassandra's backpack. Later, when she endures a dream-induced flashback to the first story, she remembers that, for a while, she felt like she had to limit how outwardly queer she looked to avoid harassment. Her one indulgence was a pin she sometimes wore on her backpack that said, "My parents said I could be anything, so I became a lesbian." She reflects that, considering she was abducted by a cult while wearing it, it seemed to be enough to nearly get her killed. On the lighter side, thanks to a blue bead on the bracelet, Cassandra later accepts it back to be used as the "something blue" at their wedding.
- The Phantom Riders Club: In the Sea of Doors, there's a Wonderland cognition of John Lennon (named Winston) whose Mad Hatter coat has three buttons depicting a walrus, a sunflower, and a peace sign.
Film — Animated
- The Bad Guys (2022): Mr. Snake, the single grumpiest, most miserable member of the gang, has two smiley face pins on his fisher hat...except that, if you look closely, they're actually frowny ones.
- Cars: Chick Hicks has sponsorship stickers littered all across his vehicular body from front to back, contrasting his fellow racer's (Lightning and The King) more modest amount of sponsors, which usually takes up the hood or their sides. As this implies he's signed up for every sponsorship under the sun, this establishes him as a greedy egomaniac who's aiming for as much as he can gain from racing.
- Encanto:
- Mirabel's shirt and skirt are decorated with patches, patterns, and other accessories that she all made herself. These include a big butterfly on her shoulder, a small rainbow, and a candle sewn onto her skirt.
- While all of the other women in the family wear gold jewelry, Mirabel's earrings are instead made form blue fabric, showing how she is often pushed aside in favour of her magical family members.
- Pepa, who can control the weather, has earrings shaped like suns.
- Isabela's flower power means she always has a few flowers in her hair.
- Agustin wears a flower on his lapel, for Isabela, and his mismatched socks are themed around his younger daughters; one is deep blue and has a dumbbell pattern (Luisa), and the other is teal with a hand-printed floral pattern (Mirabel).
- The Mitchells vs. the Machines: Katie has personalized nearly every part of her wardrobe with stickers, pins, or marker drawings. Her red hoodie has pins all over the zipper, her t-shirt has a hand-drawn design, she drew silly eyes over a hole in her jeans to make a goofy face, and wrote "Heck yeah!" on the fronts of her sneakers.
- Pinocchio (1940): The Blue Fairy gives Jiminy the title of Sir Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio's conscience. Although he is given new clothes, Sir Jiminy is somewhat disappointed not to receive a badge. He receives a magnificent one at the end, after Pinocchio has become a real boy.
- Turning Red: Meilin "Mei" Lee and her group of friends all wear woven friendship bracelets with one thread representing each girl (Red = Mei, Green = Mirian, Purple = Abby, and Yellow = Priya). After Tyler joins the group he is also given a bracelet as well.
- Up: In the A Minor Kidroduction, Ellie gives Carl a grape soda bottle cap as a badge to wear over his heart, to symbolize their newfound friendship. He continues to wear it after marrying, growing old with, and losing Ellie, until the end of the film, when he bestows the badge on Russell for all his help, calling it the Ellie Badge, the "highest honor I can bestow". Russell is touched by the gesture and hugs him.
Film — Live-Action
- Almost Famous: After the intro and Time Skip to William in high school, we see his book bag festooned with pins and patches of various rock bands of the era, establishing that listening to his big sister's record collection made a strong impact on the young William, who is now an aspiring music journalist.
- Boogie Nights: The unimpressed studio tech overseeing Dirk Diggler's Hollywood Tone-Deaf attempts to record a single has a New Wave haircut and a sport coat with a bunch of pins on the lapel, which we don't see the contents of, but establishes him as a music buff.
- Booksmart (2019): Amy, who is a lesbian Granola Girl wears a denim jacket full of patches and pins on her last day at school, which pairs with her activist Poster-Gallery Bedroom.
- Bottoms: Josie and PJ's "BFF" necklaces become a last minute plot point, as Josie pulls her out as a trump card to override their Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure.
- Cruising: One of the victims, the guy cruising at the park, is wearing a bunch of Gay Liberation badges, including a green button that has the Greek letter Lambda. This is used most notably the Gay Activists Alliance, the group that most heavily criticized and protested the making of the movie.
- The Da Vinci Code: Inspector Bezu Fache wears a small pin on his collar, which marks him as an agent of Opus Dei, a laymen's arm of the Vatican. This partly explains his dogged pursuit of cryptologist Robert Langdon, since Langdon represents a threat to the doctrine of the Catholic church. Fache even reminds a subordinate of his Opus Dei membership at one point.
- Death Proof: Stuntman Mike's silver racing jacket has a number of patches related to racing, including crossed checkered flags, and a large patch on the back advertising Icy Hot pain relief gel, which makes sense for a Stunt Performer who puts his body on the line.
- Don't Look Up: After Kate is fired for her televised freak out about the imminent meteor collision, she's working her Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job as a cashier when a skater recognizes her. He has a sticker of her screaming face from that TV broadcast that has been edited to look like the Shepard Fairley "HOPE" poster but with the text "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE".
- Eddington: Sarah, the white girl who leads the Black Lives Matter in Eddington forgets her purse with many political badges on it at the Garcia house on the night that Sheriff Joe Cross shoots Mayor Garcia and his son Eric. When investigating the scene, Deputy Joe notes the "black lives matter" pin on the purse, and Sarah is initially treated as a suspect because of the supposed political nature of the crime.
- Empire Records: Midway through the day, Deb decides to make buttons for everyone working at the store, bearing legends such as "Marc Sucks", "23-6 with Jesüs on my Dashboard", and "STU-PID", but also "Damn the Man" which becomes part of the slogan for the store's Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: "Damn the man, save The Empire!"
- Full Metal Jacket: James T. "Joker" Davis has both a peace sign badge and a text reading "BORN TO KILL" on his helmet. A commanding officer asks him if that's supposed to be "some kind of sick joke".
Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.
- High Fidelity: Rob is seen wearing various band badges on his jackets in the flashbacks to his youth, but as an adult record store owner seems to have grown past the need to advertise his specific music taste.
- Lady Bird: The titular protagonist is a awkward misfit at her private Catholic school, and is always wearing what appears to be a hand-made choker with beads and a metal peace sign charm, a bracelet with a yin-yang symbol as well as a hand woven friendship bracelet that matches one on her best friend Julie's wrist.
- Jennifer's Body:
- Emo boy classmate Colin is marked as a member of his subculture not only by his black hair and nail polish, but also by his wristful of bracelets and chains.
- Jennifer and Needy have matching split-heart BFF necklaces. In the final confrontation as Needy is straddling the floating Jennifer, Needy rips out Jennifer's necklace, which seems to break some sort of spell and cause the pair to fall onto Jennifer's bed, and Needy's box cutter to pierce Jennifer's chest.
- National Treasure: A variation. When Ben and Riley first visit Abigail Chase to warn her about the plot to steal the Declaration of Independence, Ben notices Abigail's collection of antique George Washington campaign buttons, displayed on her shelf. This tells Ben that Abigail shares his passion for American history, particularly the Revolutionary War era. Exploited when Ben sends her his own campaign button to complete her set, which was secretly coated with a solution that, after Abigail typed her password into the National Archives computer, would show which letters she pressed under UV light.
- Office Space: The Trope Codifier. Chotchkie's, the fast casual restaurant the office workers like to go to (and Peter's crush Joanna works for), has a uniform with suspenders that the wait staff are supposed to "express themselves" with Pieces of Flair with a 15-piece minimum, which Joanna fulfilled by just grabbing a bunch at random. Her boss Stan is not satisfied about her just doing the bare minimum; when star employee Brian wears 37, prompting the exasperated Joanna ask him why he doesn't make 37 the new minimum instead.
Stan: You do want to express yourself, don't you?
- The pieces of flair were inspired by the real-life uniforms of waiters at the TGI Fridays chain, and reportedly, a few years after the film, first individual franchises and later the whole chain phased out their buttons, as too many customers would joke about them, quoting the movie.
- The Place Beyond the Pines: Jason is the son of "Handsome" Luke Glanton, a heavily tattooed motorcycle daredevil and bank robber who dies when Jason was still a baby. While the two never met properly, Jason is becoming Like Father, Like Son as he rides around with a BMX bike and wears a chore coat and backpack full of patches to mirror his dad's tattoos. He is also signaled early to be a stoner by the pot leaf patch on his backpack.
- Pretty in Pink: Duckie, the Dogged Nice Guy dresses up in a weird ensemble of western shirts with a checkered jacket and Round Hippie Shades, and the jacket is festooned with many patches and pins, including some sort of military rank insignia.
- Pride (2014): Many of the activists of GLSM are walking pin cushions of political pins, and at the end, Mark gifts Joe a pin for his birthday, reading "21 Today" with the word "legal" scribbled between the number and "today" as it's discussed at the beginning of the film, the film is set back when the age of consent for gay relationships was 21 as opposed to 16 for heterosexuals.
- Tall Girl: Jack Dunkleman, the short boy with a crush on the titular Jodi, wears a brown blazer with pins on the lapel to school seemingly inspired by Duckie from Pretty in Pink.
- Zodiac (2007): In one of his letters, the Zodiac killer expresses the desire for the people of Bay Area to start wearing his circle-cross symbol on badges the way they wear various political slogans. The next letter expresses disappointment that this hasn't happened. When the Zodiac directly threatens the crime reporter Paul Avery, people at the San Francisco Chronicle start wearing large badges bearing the text "I AM NOT PAUL AVERY", including Avery himself.
Literature
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Magic-enhanced pins are somewhat popular in Hogwarts, including Hermione's Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare and the anti-Harry, pro-Cedric pins spread by the Slytherins during the Triwizard Tournament.
- The Hunger Games: Tribute tokens are a singular item that a tribute in the Hunger Games is allowed (after approval by a review board) to wear into the arena to remind them of home. Katniss wore the mockingjay pin given to her by Madge Undersee as a symbol of District 12, which originally belonged to her aunt, 50th Hunger Games Tribute Maysilee Donner. The pin helped Rue trust Katniss, since she liked mockingjays. This would later become an Icon of Rebellion.
- Perfectly Princess: Juliet's MacGuffin throughout her book is a tiny princess crown that she receives for her birthday. She gets into trouble for wearing it to school and then sparking a major fight among her classmates for inviting only the girls to her party and not the boys.
- Rainbow Magic: Most fairies wear at least one accessory that matches their theme.
- Ruby the Red Fairy wears a crown and necklace of her favourite flower, red roses.
- Amber the Orange Fairy wears a crown of orange flowers in her hair.
- Saffron the Yellow Fairy wears a lemon drop necklace and matching bracelets. Lemon drops are her favourite candy.
- Fern the Green Fairy wears a green leaf necklace.
- Sky the Blue Fairy wears a pair of blue star earrings that match her fairy dust.
- Izzy the Indigo Fairy, the most edgy of the Rainbow Fairies, wears a choker.
- Heather the Violet Fairy wears some violet flowers in her hair that match her fairy dust.
- Crystal the Snow Fairy wears a snowflake necklace.
- Abigail the Breeze Fairy wears a leaf necklace.
- Pearl the Cloud Fairy wears a cloud necklace.
- Goldie the Sunshine Fairy wears a gold sun necklace.
- Evie The Mist Fairy wears a purple swirl necklace that matches her fairy dust.
- Storm the Lightning Fairy wears a lightning bolt necklace.
- Hayley the Rain Fairy wears a raindrop necklace.
- Cherry the Cake Fairy wears a cherry necklace.
- Melodie The Music Fairy wears a music note necklace.
- Grace The Glitter Fairy wears a sparkle necklace and waist wrap that matches her fairy dust.
- Honey the Sweet Fairy wears a candy necklace and hairpiece.
- Polly The Party Fun Fairy wears a purple balloon necklace and belt, which match her fairy dust.
- Phoebe the Fashion Fairy wears a red heart necklace that matches her fairy dust.
- Jasmine the Present Fairy wears a blue ribbon necklace and hairpiece, which match her fairy dust.
- India The Moonstone Fairy wears a moonstone necklace.
- Scarlett The Garnet Fairy wears a garnet necklace.
- Emily The Emerald Fairy wears an emerald necklace.
- Chloe the Topaz Fairy wears a topaz choker.
- Amy the Amethyst Fairy wears an amethyst crown and necklace.
- Sophie The Sapphire Fairy wears a sapphire necklace.
- Lucy The Diamond Fairy wears a diamond necklace.
- Katie The Kitten Fairy wears a butterfly hairpin.
- Bella the Bunny Fairy wears a sunflower hairpin.
- Georgia The Guinea Pig Fairy wears a necklace with a round blue charm, which matches her fairy dust.
- Lauren The Puppy Fairy wears a crown of pink flowers, which matches her fairy dust.
- Harriet The Hamster Fairy wears a dark blue headband and sarong, both pinned with a red star that matches her fairy dust.
- Molly the Goldfish Fairy wears a crown of blue roses, which matches her fairy dust.
- Penny The Pony Fairy wears a purple swirl necklace, which matches her fairy dust.
- Megan the Monday Fairy wears a red diamond necklace to go with her red sash and red headband.
- Tallulah The Tuesday Fairy wears a teal bead necklace to match the rest of her teal outfit.
- Willow The Wednesday Fairy wears a green swirl necklace to match her leafy green skirt.
- Thea The Thursday Fairy wears a dark purple necklace as a dark splash against her mainly lavender outfit.
- Freya The Friday Fairy wears a belt with a big heart charm on it and a matching necklace.
- Sienna The Saturday Fairy wears a pink sun necklace, which matches her fairy dust.
- Sarah The Sunday Fairy wears a purple flower necklace to contrast her yellow dress.
- Tia The Tulip Fairy wears a tulip necklace.
- Pippa The Poppy Fairy wears a poppy necklace.
- Louise The Lily Fairy wears a lily necklace.
- Charlie The Sunflower Fairy wears a sunflower necklace.
- Olivia The Orchid Fairy wears an orchid necklace and a yellow belt to contrast her purple dress.
- Danielle The Daisy Fairy wears a daisy necklace and hairclip.
- Ella The Rose Fairy wears a rose necklace.
- Bethany The Ballet Fairy wears pink leg warmers to add some colour to her mostly white outfit.
- Jade The Disco Fairy wears green sweatbands on her wrists, to go with her green Color Motif.
- Rebecca The Rock N Roll Fairy wears a magenta scarf tight around her neck like a choker.
- Jessica the Jazz Fairy wears an enormous fluffy pink boa.
- Saskia The Salsa Fairy wears a fresh red flower in her hair.
- Helena The Horseriding Fairy wears a horseshoe necklace and a red riding ribbon.
- Francesca The Football Fairy wears a football necklace and red beads in her braids.
- Zoe The Skating Fairy wears a wheel necklace and black fingerless gloves to match her black kneepads.
- Naomi The Netball Fairy wears a netball necklace.
- Samantha the Swimming Fairy wears pink goggles, a pink swimming sarong, and a pearl necklace and anklet.
- Alice the Tennis Fairy wears a tennis ball necklace and a pink sun visor.
- Gemma The Gymnastics Fairy gussies up her plain leotard with yellow ribbons in her hair and around her neck.
- Republic of Cinnabar Navy: Spacers wear "Liberty suits" on shore leave. These start out as drab Utility working uniforms, with embroidered patches and ribbons added, bearing the names of the various ports the spacer has visited. The more veteran the spacer, the more elaborate the decorations, with the Liberty suits of senior warrants being gorgeous motleys.
- The Stand: Randall Flagg, the dark man, wears two pins on his denim jacket's lapels: a yellow smiley face on one side, and one of a pig wearing a policeman's cap with a bullet hole through the forehead and the words "How's your pork?" written in blood on the other. It fits his image as a nightmarish hippie. When Flagg appears in The Dark Tower Volume 7, the illustrated edition shows him sporting several new pins in his role as a minion of the Crimson King, including the King's bleeding eye sigul and initials, along with a peace symbol.
Live-Action TV
- Breaking Bad: After the Midair Collision at the end of Season 2, the following season the town mourns the victims of the accident by wearing a light blue and orange ribbon, the sight of which becomes a sore spot for Walt, as he knows the air traffic controller on duty was Donald Margolis, the father of Jane who Walt watched overdose and didn't help and the now grief-stricken father messed up directing flights, causing the disaster. Saul Goodman also wears the ribbon lot longer than others, as he's putting together a large lawsuit of all and any persons claiming to have been harmed.
- Derry Girls: After Clare comes out as a lesbian at the end of season 1, the next season all the girls (including James) are seen wearing a Rainbow pin as a symbol of support.
- Doctor Who:
- 1980s companion Ace has a bomber jacket covered with assorted pin badges and patches of various political, national, scientific, and pop culture natures. There are exhaustive listings of them produced by cosplay fans online, and a complete book has been published called Ace Jacket collecting fanfics, essays and fanart inspired by specific examples.
- In the epilogue of "The Family of Blood", supporting character Timothy Latimer, seen as a boy in 1914, is shown in present day as a wheelchair-bound World War I veteran at a memorial service, where everyone is wearing paper poppy pins. The Tenth Doctor and Martha appear at the service and don the same poppy pins.
- Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger:
- Totpat wears a monocle over his left eye and three pocket watches on his chest, showing how he tries to be refined despite how clumsy and dimwitted he is.
- Bookback has a silver helmet that his horns stick out of, representing his bullheaded personality.
- Pleprechaun's apron is adorned with a variety of tools, including a chisel, a rolling pin, and scissors. He also wears a magnifying glass on a necklace, a blue headband, and round glasses that are too small for his face. All of this conveys that he is deeply passionate about his work, but also old and out of touch.
- Lamy's gold helmet is sculpted in the shape of her signature animal, the scorpion.
- Mork & Mindy: The quirky Alien Among Us Mork wears rainbow suspenders that are bedecked with space-themed pins like a sun-and-moon pin and a one depicting a space shuttle.
- Orange Is the New Black: Sister Ingalls was a young nun when she was invited to an anti-war protest, and returning from the protest to the convent, her habit is now decorated with many large protest pins. She would grow up to become more distanced from the church itself while still using her image as a nun to bolster her credibility as a holy crusader against war and nuclear weapons.
- Sex Education: When Hope Haddon becomes the principal and institute a strict uniform policy and besides chastising Cal for wearing a boy's uniform, won't even allow Ola to wear a small rainbow pin on her lapel.
- Stranger Things: Eddie Munson wears a battle jacket with pins and patches for multiple metal bands, cementing his anti-establishment sensibilities and musical taste.
- The Young Ones: Rick Mayo wears a black blazer with both lapels covered in political pins ranging from two pins about internal factionalism in the Labour Party, to couple of anti-Apartheid badges, some that are just funny ("You Can Butter Me Up But You Can't have me For Breakfast" and "Cancer Cures Smoking") and one sporting the logo of Rote Armee Fraktion.
Music
- The cover for Against Me! As The Eternal Cowboy features a black-and-white photo of someone with a black electric guitar hanging down their side wearing a long sleeve t-shirt with the band's name under a black denim vest that is dotted with some white pins and buttons, a patch reading "[...] Of Our Anger" and a patch for a gun club.
- "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" is about a wife wearing a yellow ribbon for her husband who is far away. The traditional song is the official anthem of the United States Cavalry/Armour and is still used by the US military to keep marching cadence, but appeared in various forms for at least four centuries. It is based on the tradition of a yellow ribbon being associated with those waiting for the return of a loved one, likely based on European traditions that migrated to the Americas through English settlers.
- MILGRAM: In "Non-Demonium", Amane's father appears in the flesh for the first time. He is a high-ranking member of the cult her family belongs to and wears three pins on his suit jacket. The first is the cult's cloud emblem, the second is a stylized four-petaled flower in the cult colors (red, yellow, green and blue), and the third is an icon of Riyone, one of the cult's mascots who represents their belief in faith healing.
- Taylor Swift fans embraced beaded friendship bracelets as a part of their culture after the song "You're On your Own, Kid" from Midnights. Some fans think they were invented by the fandom or Swift herself, but the concept is Older Than They Think dating back to the '70s-'80s, and previously being a part of the Rave and Scene subcultures.
So make the friendship bracelets
Take the moment and taste it
You've got no reason to be afraid
Theater
- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: In the original Broadway production, Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre wears a gay pride button on her lapel, for her gay fathers, and a couple of political pins, showing that even though she is the youngest, she is also the most politically informed. Local productions also often include political buttons on Logainne's costume.
- Guys and Dolls: Gamblers must wear red carnations to get into Nathan Detroit's floating crap game. When Lt. Brannigan finds a group of them all together wearing said carnations, he gets suspicious. Benny, seeing Adelaide approaching, panics and says the carnations are for Nathan's bachelor party. Adelaide, excited Nathan has finally decided to end their years-long engagement, makes plans to elope with him the next evening, which Nathan is forced to agree with to avoid Brannigan's suspicions.
Video Games
- Limbus Company: Unlike the other Sinners who keep their coats as is or forgo them, Don Quixote decorates her uniform with various pins officiated by the many Color Fixers of The City, to further highlight how much she idolizes them.
- Peaks of Yore: In The Great Alps DLC, a set of eleven sleeve pins are available for the climber to unlock and put on his sleeve. They are all for fulfilling different criteria, but at their core are all representative of the climber's love and passion for summiting the peaks and other climbs of Switzerland.
- Prayer of the Faithless: Amalie's Starter Equipment includes "Amalie's Locket", and her sword "Fer Volant", both of which were given to her by her friend / commander Vanessa:
Amalie's Locket: Amalie's amulet given to her by Vanessa.
- Stardew Valley
- Caroline and Jodi, the two main "housewife" characters, wear matching blue hairties.
- Jas and Abigail both wear a green bow in their matching purple hair.
- Team Fortress 2 has an item simply named Flair!
which is a set of customizable pin buttons that the characters wear.
- Watch_Dogs 2: Marcus aka Retr0 wears some pins on his messenger bag strap, while Wrench has a studded denim vest with some pins and patches with Anarchist imagery to go along with his tattoos. T-Bone (who also appears in Watch_Dogs) has a pile of embroidered patches sewn onto the left thigh of his jeans.
Visual Novels
- Danganronpa
- Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista, wears a bunny charm, a big red-and-white bow, and a loose white tie with red checkers. Or rather, her twin sister Mukuro Ikusaba wears these; the real Junko Enoshima wears two black and white bear charms, a red bow on her collar, and a white tie with a black stripe.
- Hifumi Yamada wears a blue-and-orange tie with an arrow pattern, which doesn't match his outfit, but does add some colour to it.
- Celestia Ludenburg, who wears Elegant Gothic Lolita, wears a frilly white bonnet with white ribbons, a white ribbon choker, and silver finger jewelry.
- Kyoko Kirigiri always wears a pair of black gloves, even to the pool. They're to cover up some burn scars she got while investigating a case, revealing her to be the Ultimate Detective.
- The only thing that makes Hajime Hinata stand out is his brown tie with a tan symbol. Otherwise, his appearance is completely unremarkable, hinting that he doesn't belong with the Ultimates and he's really from the Reserve Course.
- Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Cook, obviously wears a tiny chef hat.
- Peko Pekoyama appears intimidating on the outside, as she's the stern Ultimate Swordswoman. However, her softer side is revealed through the white ribbons she wears in her braids.
- Ibuki Mioda, the punkish Ultimate Musician, wears a headband with spikes on it and has a double lip piercing. Her stockings are also two different colours and riddled with holes.
- Hiyoko Saionji wears big green bows with cat charms to add to her cuteness. Do not be fooled by her cuteness. She is pure evil.
- Nekomaru Nidai has a metal chain attached to the belt of his pants, which he is seen stretching and breaking in his splash art to demonstrate how badass he is.
- Gundham Tanaka wears a long purple scarf, which serves as a carrier to his beloved pet hamsters.
- Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer, wears a hairclip shaped like a spaceship from Space Invaders.
- Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess, wears a crown in her splash art, but for her casual wear in-game, she settles for a posh black bow.
- Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist, wears hairclips that are shaped like music notes.
- Kirumi Tojo wears a frilly black bonnet and black gloves with a spider-web pattern. The gloves end up being a Chekhov's Gun, as a torn piece of them is used to identify her as Ryoma's killer.
- Tenko Chabashira wears a green scarf on her head that is flying in four different directions, highlighting her erratic personality.
- Angie Yonaga, who is from a tropical island, wears a seashell necklace and has a bellybutton piercing.
- Korekiyo Shinguji always covers his mouth with a black mask with a zipper. When it's finally removed, it's revealed that it's hiding the mouth of "Sister", his Split Personality/tulpa.
- Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, wears a pair of inventor's goggles on her head, which she only actually uses during the first chapter.
Web Animation
- The Most Popular Girls in School:
- Saison Marguerite always wears a red beret to show off her faked French heritage.
- Blaine McClaine wears a shark tooth necklace, which is used to tell him apart from the similarly blonde Justin Michaelson.
- In Season 3, the hipsters are designated by wearing woolly hats. Jenna Darabond always wears a pair of fake Nerd Glasses.
Web Video
- Sanders Sides: Exploited in "Flirting with Social Anxiety" when Thomas spots a cute guy at the mall and he, Roman, and Virgil try to sneak a peek at his backpack pins and laptop stickers, hoping to confirm he is gay before trying to talk to him. In the process they find out he is a Disney and Paramore fan, which appeals to Thomas.
Western Animation
- 6teen:
- Caitlin wears a pink butterfly clip in her hair, showing that she is cute and feminine. When tomboy Nikki is brainwashed by the Clones and starts dressing cutesy, she wears a butterfly clip too, which Caitlin comments is her thing.
- In "Fish and Make Up", after Jude's ill-fated goldfish dies, he puts a sticker of Fish on his skateboard to remember him.
- Bluey: Indy wears a peace sign pendant because her mother is a Granola Girl.
- Fireman Sam:
- Hannah wears two pink flower hairclips, which match the flower print on her shirt (prior to her redesign in Series 16).
- In Series 16, Mandy gets a new outfit that includes two gold star hairclips, representing her confidence.
- Gravity Falls: Invoked and Exploited; in "Gideon Rises", L'il Gideon gives out free pins with his face on it to all of his fans in Gravity Falls. Stan reveals at the end of the episode that the pins all had cameras and microphones inside, which allowed Gideon to spy on the citizens of Gravity Falls to aid in his Phony Psychic scheme. The townsfolk are crushed by this and throw their pins to the ground as he is taken away in tiny handcuffs for his crimes.
- Miraculous Ladybug: Mylene wears several pins on her overalls, including one with the Progressive Pride flag, another with a peace symbol, and another with the recycling symbol. In-Universe, she's explained that she wears all these pins to remind herself of what she stands for as a way of warding off her anxiety. She also wears a red pin with black Ladybug dots in support of the titular Superhero.
- My Little Pony (Generation 5):
- Sunny Starscout wears several pins on her satchel featuring the cutie marks of the Guardians of Harmony, showing her idealism and dedication to upholding their values of friendship and unity.
- Izzy Moonbow wears hoofmade jewelry, such as her friendship bracelet and her hairband, representing her creative and artistic side.
- Hitch Trailblazer sports a belt sash that holds his sheriff's badge, emphasizing his dedication to upholding the law and his more serious demeanor compared to his friends.
- Pipp Petals wears a golden headdress, which shows off her glamorous side and her status as a princess.
- Inverted with Zipp Storm, who does not wear any accessories. It highlights how different she is to her sister and mother, who embrace their royal status and wear fancy regalia to match, while Zipp doesn't, to show her rebellious personality and reluctance of being heir to the throne.
- At first, Misty Brightdawn usually wore a necklace Opaline would use to communicate with her, as a constant reminder of how much control Opaline has over Misty. As the story progresses and Misty joins the main cast, she eventually ditches the necklace and begins wearing one of Izzy's friendship bracelets, solidifying her status as one of the heroes and her freedom from Opaline's influence.
- The Octonauts: Each Octonaut is identified by their blue collar, which they use to activate a helmet for swimming underwater. The exception is Professor Inkling; he's an octopus and can breathe underwater, so instead, he wears a smart white collar with a blue bow tie.
- The Owl House: In "Thanks to Them", after Luz Noceda comes out as bisexual to her mom, she wears a bisexual pin on her beanie at school, while her mom, Camila, wears a heart-shaped rainbow pride emblem on her jacket, showing she has proudly accepted her daughter.
- Pasila: Played for Laughs when Kyösti is sent to oversee a protest by Amnesty International, and he tells his friend that these jobs are easy, you just wear a pin for the cause and everyone leaves you alone. Then, at the protest, an activist carrying a tray of pins approaches Kyösti and asks "are you interested in human rights?" and Kyösti, not really listening just says "No thanks, I already have mine" causing everyone to turn to him in shock and he has to clarify "Pin! I already have my pin!"
- The Prince (2021):
- Princess Charlotte has a blue bow over her right ear, since she's a cute little girl, contrasting her true personality as an international spy.
- Meghan and Kate, who are both rather posh women, wear pearl earrings.
- The Simpsons:
- In "The Italian Bob", Lisa is wearing a Canadian flag during the family trip to Europe to distance herself from the "Ugly American" Stereotype, but unfortunately is already thwarted in the airport when Homer had checked a US flag on a stick in the luggage and jumps on the conveyor belt to wave it and shout "USA! USA!"
- In "Boy Meets Curl", while Homer and Marge are in the Olympics playing Curling, Lisa becomes obsessed with collecting pins of Olympic mascots, ending up with a vest and hat full of pins, but eventually with a dress made of just pins.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: Squidward Tentacles is shown wearing a badge reading "I really wish I weren't here right now!" at work.
- Total Drama: Beth wears a green vest with four colorful pins, including a smiley-face one. It vaguely resembles a Girl Scout vest, emphasizing that she is a friendly person who is a bit more naive and childlike than the other competitors.
Real Life
- There are many famous pins and buttons of political nature:
- Generally the first political campaign button is believed to be the Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion used by British abolitionists.
- Buttons for political candidates and carrying slogans have been documented as far back as the election of George Washington in 1789, and perhaps the most famous of US political history is "I Like Ike"
- The Peace Sign button, an enduring symbol of The '60s originated as a symbol for the British Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament, with the symbol both representing the letters "N" and "D" in Semaphore (for Nuclear Disarmament) and visually referencing the Francisco de Goya painting "The Third of May 1808" showing a man spreading his arms in front of a firing squad. As CND didn't want to copyright the symbol, it became a generic symbol for peace and especially opposition to The Vietnam War
- "Nuclear Power? No Thanks" originated in Denmark ("Atomkraft? Nej Tak!") and became a widely copied and translated around the world with its very recognizable orange, smiling sun on a yellow background.
- Lapel Pins made of metal and enamel are a form of flair that is generally acceptable with more formal wear, and feature things like national flags (as well as flags of two nations crossed as a symbol of friendship), and symbols of political parties.
- Awareness Ribbons are another formally acceptable form of decoration. Originating with the yellow ribbons used by families of soldiers at war, other famous ribbons include the Red for AIDS awareness, Pink for Breast Cancer awareness, but also a number of different causes using the same colors at different points.
- Generally the first political campaign button is believed to be the Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion
- The yellow smiley face while already a somewhat known symbol, became a prominent button for people to wear thanks to a 1963 advertisement campaign by insurance company State Mutual Life Assurance Company, which ended up distributing millions of copies of the pin. The Smiley was generally considered a more politically neutral than the peace sign, would later feature prominently in the comic book Watchmen and in the late 80s' to early 90's became a symbol of Rave culture.
- Aside from official insignia, militaries around the world have tolerated a reasonable amount of "Morale Patches", usually more humorous patches that celebrate a unit's collective identity.
- Downstream of Morale Patches, similar patch work of imagery was adopted by the Post-WWII Motorcycle club culture, which evolved into Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs, and while some patches act as more on-person versions of Bumper Stickers, others have more coded and enforced meanings, such as the "Bottom Rocker", a patch on the lower back proclaiming the territory a rider is from, which some clubs take very seriously.
- Adding Tough Spikes and Studs to clothes started with Biker culture, and from there also via BDSM and the Gay Leatherman culture, this type of modification also travelled into Rock music subcultures, turned Up To Eleven by some Black Metal performers and fans who would make bracelets out of leather and hardware store nails.
- Taking influence from Biker culture, denim vests and embroidered patches of band logos and album covers ("Battle Jackets") became an integral part of Heavy Metal subculture, while Punk Rock fans tend to prefer silk printed patches, often self-made. Within punk subculture, there are also "Crust Pants", usually jeans that are ripped covered in so many patches they eventually become more patch than pants.
- Downstream of Morale Patches, similar patch work of imagery was adopted by the Post-WWII Motorcycle club culture, which evolved into Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs, and while some patches act as more on-person versions of Bumper Stickers, others have more coded and enforced meanings, such as the "Bottom Rocker", a patch on the lower back proclaiming the territory a rider is from, which some clubs take very seriously.
- Friendship bracelets (both ones made by braiding thread, or by stringing Kandi beads on a rubber band) and Jelly Bracelets, usually mass produced for various charity or awareness campaigns, as well as wearing wrist bands for music festivals one has attended long after attending are also used by many as personal and subcultural signifiers. There is a tradition with Kandi bracelets to make a bunch of them to trade with other fans at shows.
- Student Boilersuits are a tradition in Nordic (and some Canadian) Universities and Polytechnics, starting in Sweden in The '70s, they are colorful (usually Colour Coded by Faculty or Program) overalls that student associations sell the students, and they then decorate with patches over their time in school, with patches sold or handed out at various events like themed parties
- As parodied by Office Space, fast-casual dining chain TGI Fridays had a uniform for waiters that included buttons and pins the server could pick out themselves. A few yeas after the film, the restaurants started phasing them out as too many customers were making jokes about them.
- Fast fashion chain H&M once released a denim vest with a bunch of fake but real-sounding band names as patches, and a group of Finnish musicians decided to prank the company by creating, and back-dating profiles for the different bands online, including making one of the bands neo-Nazis, forcing the company to recall the product out of fear of controversy.