Brooklynites, sharpen your pencils!
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Arts Ambassador Colm Dillane, founder of the fashion label KidSuper, on Tuesday announced the launch of the 2026 Brooklyn Pin Design Competition.
The contest is open to Brooklynites of all ages, plus K-12 students who attend school in the borough, even if they live elsewhere. The winning design will be unveiled at Reynoso’s State of the Borough address next year. Attendees will be the first to receive the new pin, which will be produced in a limited run.
“The Brooklyn pin is the people’s pin, and I am so excited for its redesign to be in the hands of creative Brooklynites,” Reynoso said in a release.
Reynoso first teased the initiative during April’s State of the Borough address and noted that the design has become an emblem of Brooklyn’s creative energy over the past 20 years. The tradition dates to former Borough President Marty Markowitz, who served from 2002 to 2013 and was known for handing out thousands of gold pins styled after the Brooklyn Dodgers’ classic script.
Dillane, the borough’s first arts ambassador, put his stamp on the 2025 edition by reviving the bubble-letter style he once scribbled in high school notebooks at Brooklyn Tech — a doodle that later appeared on his T-shirts, graffiti work and art pieces.
“What a full circle moment to bring it to the official Brooklyn pin,” he said in a release. “As many artists before me, I used to doodle on my high school notebooks, I would always use this specific font that I would write bubble letters on all of the papers.”
This year, he’ll join Reynoso in selecting a design that captures Brooklyn’s identity in any style — as long as “Brooklyn” or a recognizable nickname appears. Entries are due by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30. More details are available at brooklynbp.nyc.gov/arts.
