Stick plus puck

The emblems of Hockey World Championship necessarily includes symbols of this sport, the country or the city where it is held and because they are drawn by artists they also reflect the current tendencies in the world of art existing in this or that country at a given time. Usually you can see the emblem on championship’s documents and on souvenirs, especially on badges. Badges are real treasure for people who take interest in emblems and mascots.

The history of the hockey world championships begins simultaneously with the Winter Olympic Games and for a long time (until 1968) the World Championship was not held in the same year as the Winter Olympic Games. The awards of World and European championships were based on the results of an Olympic tournament, therefore the Olympic symbolic is well represented in the history of hockey.

Beginning from 1972 the medals of the Hockey World Champions began to be awarded within a stand-alone tournament. Certainly, the World championships used to be held in other years as well. All of them had their emblems, and some of them had mascots, especially after 1980. So what was usually represented on the emblems of the World championships?

An image of a hockey player: a field player or a goalkeeper. Images of elements of hockey gear (stick, puck, gloves and helmet); helmets close-up and a profile, pucks at different angles, one or more sticks, and finally gloves of different configurations.

The use of the state symbolic, architectural sights and inscriptions on the emblems is a very widespread occurrence.

The use of geographical symbols on emblems – the image of globe, terrestrial sphere or the unfolded projection of hemispheres appears more often than anything else.

In the last 30 years a mascot of the tournament would also appear in addition to an emblem of World championship. The World championship of 1973 in Moscow pioneered this trend. Of course, a bear cub clad in hockey uniform with a stick was chosen for a mascot. Another little bear became the mascot of the World Championship in 1986, and in 2000 St.-Petersburg had a baby elk as its mascot. Polar bears, penguins, lions and many other animals also served as mascots.

Aesthetic norms and rules, fashionable tendencies in art varied in the course of the long history of the World hockey championships. Gifted artists came and left, the hosting rotated among the nations and accordingly the emblem also changed. Look and see for yourself.

Irina DZIDZIGURI

COLLECTIONS

National hockey team, 1984. Olympic games in Sarayevo. We’ve got gold.

photo Vladislav Kivrin