Ask Difference

Badge vs. Pin — What's the Difference?

By Maham Liaqat & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 26, 2024
A badge signifies affiliation or achievement, while a pin is a decorative item or symbol worn for personal expression or identification.
Badge vs. Pin — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Badge and Pin

ADVERTISEMENT

Key Differences

Badges are often associated with organizations, professions, or achievements, serving as a symbol of authority, membership, or accomplishment. They can be made of various materials, including metal, cloth, or plastic, and are designed to convey specific information, such as rank, role, or achievement. On the other hand, pins are primarily decorative items that can be worn on clothing or accessories to express personal interests, support causes, or identify with particular groups or ideas.
Badges often carry official significance and may be awarded or issued by specific organizations. They can be used to grant access to restricted areas or to identify individuals in specific roles. In contrast, pins are usually chosen by the individual wearer for personal reasons and do not typically convey official authority or membership. They are popular as fashion accessories, collectibles, or as a means to show support for social causes.
The manner of attachment for badges and pins can vary but often serves the same purpose: to temporarily affix the item to clothing or a piece of fabric. Badges might come with a pin, clip, or other fastening mechanism, while decorative pins usually have a sharp point that pierces through the fabric, secured by a backing.
While the terms "badge" and "pin" can sometimes be used interchangeably, especially when referring to items that straddle the line between identification and decoration, their primary distinctions lie in their intended purpose and the context in which they are worn. For instance, a pin may become a badge if it is used by an organization for identification purposes, and vice versa.
The cultural and emotional significance of badges and pins also differs. A badge often evokes pride and belonging to the wearer, as it is associated with being part of a group or achieving a specific milestone. Pins, while they can also foster a sense of belonging, especially when worn in solidarity for a cause, are more about personal expression and individual identity.
ADVERTISEMENT

Comparison Chart

Purpose

Signifies affiliation or achievement.
Worn for decoration or personal expression.

Association

With organizations, professions, achievements.
Personal interests, causes, fashion.

Material

Metal, cloth, plastic.
Metals, enamel, various materials.

Significance

Official authority or membership.
Personal choice, no official authority.

Attachment

Pin, clip, other mechanisms.
Sharp point with a securing backing.

Compare with Definitions

Badge

A symbol of affiliation, authority, or achievement.
The firefighter wore his badge with pride at the ceremony.

Pin

A decorative item worn on clothing.
She collected enamel pins from every concert she attended.

Badge

Often used to indicate membership or rank.
The conference attendees wore badges to denote their status as speakers or guests.

Pin

Offers a way to personalize appearance.
His jacket was covered in pins that reflected his diverse interests.

Badge

Varies in form according to its purpose.
The digital badge on his profile confirmed his certification.

Pin

Can represent affiliation in a more casual context.
Fans of the show traded character pins at the convention.

Badge

Can grant access or privileges.
Her staff badge allowed her entry into the secured building.

Pin

Does not typically convey official status.
The pin on her bag was a symbol of her commitment to environmental activism.

Badge

Associated with pride and accomplishment.
Scouts earn badges as they master new skills.

Pin

Used for personal expression or solidarity.
Wearing a ribbon pin to show support for a cause.

Badge

A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fire), a sign of legitimate employment or student status, or as a simple means of identification. They are also used in advertising, publicity, and for branding purposes.

Pin

A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together, and can have three sorts of body: a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, and jigs); a shaft connected to a head and ending in a sharp tip meant to pierce one or more pieces of soft materials like cloth or paper (the straight or push pin); a single strip of a rigid but flexible material (e.g. a wire) whose length has been folded into parallel prongs in such fashion that the middle length of each curves towards the other so that, when anything is inserted between them, they act as a clamp (e.g.

Badge

A device or emblem worn as an insignia of rank, office, or membership in an organization.

Pin

An identifying number allocated to an individual by a bank or other organization and used for validating electronic transactions.

Badge

An emblem given as an award or honor.

Pin

Attach or fasten with a pin or pins
Her hair was pinned back
He pinned the badge on to his lapel

Badge

A characteristic mark or indicative trait
“Indifference to what others think is ... the badge of the aristocrat” (Elspeth Huxley).

Pin

Hold (someone) firmly in a specified position so they are unable to move
Richards pinned him down until the police arrived
She was standing pinned against the door

Badge

A distinctive mark, token, sign, emblem or cognizance, worn on one's clothing, as an insignia of some rank, or of the membership of an organization.
The badge of a society; the badge of a policeman

Pin

Hinder or prevent (a piece or pawn) from moving because of the danger to a more valuable piece standing behind it along the line of an attack
The black rook on e4 is pinned

Badge

A small nameplate, identifying the wearer, and often giving additional information.

Pin

A short, straight, stiff piece of wire with a blunt head and a sharp point, used especially for fastening.

Badge

A card, sometimes with a barcode or magnetic strip, granting access to a certain area.

Pin

Something, such as a safety pin, that resembles such a piece of wire in shape or use.

Badge

Something characteristic; a mark; a token.

Pin

A whit; a jot
Didn't care a pin about the matter.

Badge

A brand on the hand of a thief, etc.

Pin

A thin rod for securing the ends of fractured bones.

Badge

(nautical) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.

Pin

A peg for fixing the crown to the root of a tooth.

Badge

(heraldry) A distinctive mark worn by servants, retainers, and followers of royalty or nobility, who, being beneath the rank of gentlemen, have no right to armorial bearings.

Pin

A cotter pin.

Badge

(GUI) A small overlay on an icon that shows additional information about that item, such as the number of new alerts or messages.

Pin

The part of a key stem entering a lock.

Badge

An icon or emblem awarded to a user for some achievement.
When you have checked in to the site from ten different cities, you unlock the Traveller badge.

Pin

(Music) One of the pegs securing the strings and regulating their tension on a stringed instrument.

Badge

(slang) A police officer.
That's why every badge back home wanted to nail him.

Pin

(Nautical) A belaying pin.

Badge

(transitive) To mark or distinguish with a badge.
The television was badged as 'GE', but wasn't made by them.

Pin

(Nautical) A thole pin.

Badge

(transitive) To show a badge to.
He calmed down a lot when the policeman badged him.

Pin

An ornament fastened to clothing by means of a clasp.

Badge

(ambitransitive) To enter a restricted area by showing one's badge.

Pin

A rolling pin.

Badge

A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman.

Pin

One of the wooden clubs at which the ball is aimed in bowling.

Badge

Something characteristic; a mark; a token.
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.

Pin

A flagstick.

Badge

A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.

Pin

See fall.

Badge

To mark or distinguish with a badge.

Pin

Pins(Informal) The legs
Is steady on his pins.

Badge

An emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation etc.);
They checked everyone's badge before letting them in

Pin

(Electronics) A lead on a device that plugs into a socket to connect the device to a system.

Badge

Any feature that is regarded as a sign of status (a particular power or quality or rank);
Wearing a tie was regarded as a badge of respectability

Pin

Any of the pegs on the platen of a printer, which engage holes at the edges of paper.

Badge

Put a badge on;
The workers here must be badged

Pin

Any of the styluses that form a dot matrix on a printer.

Pin

Any of the small metal prongs at the end of a connector that fit into the holes in a port.

Pin

To fasten or secure with or as if with a pin or pins.

Pin

To transfix.

Pin

To place in a position of trusting dependence
He pinned his faith on an absurdity.

Pin

To hold fast; immobilize
He was pinned under the wreckage of the truck.

Pin

(Sports) To win a fall from in wrestling.

Pin

To give (a woman) a fraternity pin in token of attachment.

Pin

Having a grain suggestive of the heads of pins. Used of leather.

Pin

A needle without an eye (usually) made of drawn-out steel wire with one end sharpened and the other flattened or rounded into a head, used for fastening.

Pin

A small nail with a head and a sharp point.

Pin

A cylinder often of wood or metal used to fasten or as a bearing between two parts.
Pull the pin out of the grenade before throwing it at the enemy.

Pin

The victory condition of holding the opponent's shoulders on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time.

Pin

A slender object specially designed for use in a specific game or sport, such as skittles or bowling.

Pin

A leg.
I'm not so good on my pins these days.

Pin

(electricity) Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector.
The UK standard connector for domestic mains electricity has three pins.

Pin

A piece of jewellery that is attached to clothing with a pin.

Pin

(US) A simple accessory that can be attached to clothing with a pin or fastener, often round and bearing a design, logo or message, and used for decoration, identification or to show political affiliation, etc.

Pin

(chess) Either a scenario in which moving a lesser piece to escape from attack would expose a more valuable piece to being taken instead, or one where moving a piece is impossible as it would place the king in check.

Pin

(golf) The flagstick: the flag-bearing pole which marks the location of a hole

Pin

(curling) The spot at the exact centre of the house (the target area)
The shot landed right on the pin.

Pin

(archery) The spot at the exact centre of the target, originally a literal pin that fastened the target in place.

Pin

(obsolete) A mood, a state of being.

Pin

One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each person should drink.

Pin

Caligo.

Pin

A thing of small value; a trifle.

Pin

A peg in musical instruments for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings.

Pin

(engineering) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.

Pin

The tenon of a dovetail joint.

Pin

A size of brewery cask, equal to half a firkin, or eighth of a barrel.

Pin

(informal) A pinball machine.
I spent most of my time in the arcade playing pins.

Pin

(locksmithing) A small cylindrical object which blocks the rotation of a pin-tumbler lock when the incorrect key is inserted.

Pin

(often followed by a preposition such as "to" or "on") To fasten or attach (something) with a pin.

Pin

To cause (a piece) to be in a pin.

Pin

(wrestling) To pin down (someone).
He pinned his opponent on the mat.

Pin

To enclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

Pin

To attach (an icon, application, message etc.) to another item so that it persists.
To pin a folder to the taskbar

Pin

To fix (an array in memory, a security certificate, etc.) so that it cannot be modified.
When marshaling data, the interop marshaler can copy or pin the data being marshaled.

Pin

5.0|page=244

Pin

(transitive) To cause an analog gauge to reach the stop pin at the high end of the range.

Pin

To peen.

Pin

To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

Pin

To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join; as, to pin a garment; to pin boards together.

Pin

A piece of wood, metal, etc., generally cylindrical, used for fastening separate articles together, or as a support by which one article may be suspended from another; a peg; a bolt.
With pins of adamantAnd chains they made all fast.

Pin

Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening clothes, attaching papers, etc.

Pin

Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.
He . . . did not care a pin for her.

Pin

That which resembles a pin in its form or use

Pin

One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each man should drink.

Pin

The bull's eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center.

Pin

Mood; humor.

Pin

Caligo. See Caligo.

Pin

An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the clothing by a pin; as, a Masonic pin.

Pin

The leg; as, to knock one off his pins.

Pin

A piece of jewelry that is pinned onto the wearer's garment

Pin

When a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

Pin

Small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.

Pin

A number you choose and use to gain access to various accounts

Pin

Informal terms of the leg;
Fever left him weak on his sticks

Pin

Axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns

Pin

Cylindrical tumblers consisting of two parts that are held in place by springs; when they are aligned with a key the bolt can be thrown

Pin

Flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green

Pin

A small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used to support or fasten or attach things

Pin

A holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing

Pin

A club-shaped wooden object used in bowling; set up in groups as a target

Pin

To hold fast or prevent from moving;
The child was pinned under the fallen tree

Pin

Attach or fasten with pins

Pin

Pierce with a pin;
Pin down the butterfly

Pin

Immobilize a piece

Common Curiosities

Can a pin be considered a badge?

In some contexts, yes. If a pin is used by an organization for identification or to signify achievement, it can function as a badge.

How do you wear a badge or pin?

Both are typically worn on the chest area of clothing, attached via a pin, clip, or other mechanism, depending on their design.

Can anyone wear a pin?

Yes, pins are chosen and worn based on personal preference and do not require affiliation with an organization or specific achievement.

Do badges and pins have different legal implications?

Yes, wearing a badge without authorization, especially if it represents an official position or authority (like a police badge), can have legal implications. Pins, being for personal expression, do not carry the same legal weight.

Are all badges made of metal?

No, badges can be made from a variety of materials, including metal, plastic, cloth, or even digital formats.

Is there a difference in how badges and pins are made?

The manufacturing process can vary widely depending on the material and complexity of the design, but both involve crafting a design into a durable form that can be attached to clothing.

Are badges only issued by organizations?

Mostly, yes. Badges are usually issued by organizations to signify membership, authority, or achievement.

Can wearing a pin have social implications?

Yes, wearing a pin, especially one associated with a social cause or movement, can express solidarity or support and carry social significance.

How do organizations decide who gets a badge?

Organizations typically have criteria for issuing badges, such as rank, role, achievement, or membership.

Why do people collect pins?

Pin collecting can be a hobby for many, offering a way to remember experiences, show interests, or connect with others who have similar passions.

Share Your Discovery

Share via Social Media
Embed This Content
Embed Code
Share Directly via Messenger
Link
Previous Comparison
Scop vs. Bard
Next Comparison
Comply vs. Obey

Author Spotlight

Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Urooj Arif
Urooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.

Popular Comparisons

Trending Comparisons

New Comparisons

Trending Terms