Lapel Pin Sizes: What Size Should Your Custom Pin Be?

Lapel pin sizes start at half an inch, but most custom lapel pins are 1 to 1.25 inches, measured on the longest side. That's roughly a quarter. Trading pins run bigger, usually 1.5 to 2 inches, and small professional pins drop to 0.5 or 0.75 inch. Those three bands cover almost every order we see, and picking the wrong band is the quickest way to end up unhappy with a pin that was otherwise made perfectly.

Every time someone asks us for a quote, we ask three things: how many pins, when you need them, and what size. Size gets asked early for a reason. Once in a while a caller says "3 inches," and that's our cue to ask how the pin will be worn. A 3-inch pin is hockey-puck territory. On a suit lapel it sticks out like a sore thumb, and on a blouse it drags the fabric down so it hangs funny. The rest of this guide covers what we'd ask you on that call.

What are the standard lapel pin sizes?

The standard lapel pin sizes are 0.75 inch, 1 inch, 1.25 inch and 1.5 inches, with 1 inch the most common. Pins under 1 inch suit a suit lapel and simple designs. 1 to 1.5 inches is the most popular range for almost any pin. Above 1.5 inches is best for trading pins, collectibles and detailed designs.

We can technically make a pin in any size, but our published pricing runs from 1/2 inch to 2 inches in 1/8-inch steps. Below half an inch there's no room left for detail. Above 2 inches, you're usually building a trading pin or a display piece, and we quote those individually.

Lapel pin size chart

Sizes are hard to picture as numbers. Coins are easy. Here's the chart we'd sketch for you on the phone, with the metric equivalent and our current price for 100 soft enamel pins at that size (free design and US shipping included).

• 1/2 inch (12.7 mm): smaller than a penny. Good for tiny icons, flag pins and very simple marks. 100 soft enamel pins: $280.
• 3/4 inch (19.1 mm): about a penny. Good for subtle professional pins and service pins. 100 soft enamel pins: $285.
• 1 inch (25.4 mm): about a quarter. Good for corporate, awareness, school, club and giveaway pins. 100 soft enamel pins: $292.
• 1 1/4 inches (31.8 mm): about a half dollar. Good for logos with a little text. 100 soft enamel pins: $309.
• 1 1/2 inches (38.1 mm): about an Eisenhower dollar. Good for trading pins, bag and hat pins, and detailed art. 100 soft enamel pins: $324.
• 1 3/4 inches (44.5 mm): about a golf ball. Good for trading pins. 100 soft enamel pins: $359.
• 2 inches (50.8 mm): about the top of a V8 can. Good for trading pins and collectibles. 100 soft enamel pins: $383.
• 3 inches (76.2 mm): about a hockey puck. Display pieces only, quoted individually.

Prices are from our pricing page for soft enamel at the time of writing. Hard enamel runs a little higher at every size; see soft vs. hard enamel if you haven't picked a style yet.

Still can't picture it? Cut a circle or square of paper at the size you're considering and pin it where the real pin will go. It takes two minutes and tells you more than any chart. Your proof helps here too: every one we send shows the design large, so you can check details, and again at actual size, so you can see what will really arrive.

How to measure a lapel pin

A custom pin is measured on its longest dimension, top to bottom or left to right, whichever is bigger. A rectangle that's 1.5 inches wide and 0.5 inch tall is a 1.5-inch pin. The shorter side scales in proportion to your artwork. It matters for how the art looks, but it has nothing to do with the price. Pricing uses the longest side only.

Two things trip people up here.

Don't quote the short side or the diagonal. If you tell a pin company "it's about an inch" while picturing the height of a wide logo, you can get a pin far bigger or smaller than you expected. Give us the longest side and let the other dimension follow.

Wide logos get short fast. Say your logo is a wordmark three times wider than it is tall. At 1 inch, that pin is only about a third of an inch high, and the letters inside it are smaller still. That's why horizontal logos usually go up to 1.25 or 1.5 inches. Our designers will flag it on the proof if the text won't read at the size you asked for.

That's also why the size on your finished proof can differ slightly from the number you requested. We lock the longest side and let the height or width follow the artwork's proportions, or we suggest a small bump to keep text legible. Either way it's called out on the digital proof before anything is made. Check the size on the proof every time. It's on our list of 10 things to check in your art proof for a reason.

Which size for which kind of pin?

Under 1 inch: quiet and professional

Half-inch to three-quarter-inch pins are for people who want a pin that's noticed up close and ignored across the room. Think a simple flag, a single icon, or a service pin worn on a suit lapel every day. Tie pins sit here too: we make their faces around 3/4 inch, because anything bigger looks odd on a tie (more in 8 things to know about tie pins). The trade-off is detail. At 1/2 inch there's barely room for one or two colors separated by metal lines, and lettering is mostly off the table.

1 to 1.25 inches: the default

One inch is by far the most common lapel pin size. It's big enough to read a logo and small enough to wear with a suit. Most trade show, corporate, employee recognition, awareness, club, school, religious and giveaway pins land here. If you really don't know what size to pick, start at 1 inch and move only if your artwork gives you a reason.

1.5 to 2 inches: trading pins and anything not worn on a lapel

Once a pin is going on a lanyard, a hat, a backpack or a trading board instead of a lapel, bigger is almost always better. Little league baseball, Destination Imagination and Odyssey of the Mind trading pins all live in this range. Show up at a pin trading event with a 1-inch pin and it'll get passed over next to the 2-inch pins around it. We have a saying for this: trade big, win big.

Over 2 inches: ask first

Pins rarely go past 2 inches. It can be done, but a 3-inch pin is heavy and pulls on whatever it's pinned to. We can make a pin in any size, and anything over 2 inches is quoted individually. If you're thinking about something this big, tell us how it'll be used before you settle on the number, and our team will recommend a size and a backing that can carry the weight.

What does a bigger pin cost?

Less than most people assume. Mold, setup, design and shipping are all built into our prices, and the per-pin cost climbs gently as the pin gets bigger. From our current price tables:

• 100 soft enamel: $292 at 1 inch, $324 at 1 1/2 inches, $383 at 2 inches.
• 100 hard enamel: $301 at 1 inch, $348 at 1 1/2 inches, $424 at 2 inches.
• 1,000 soft enamel: $1,250 at 1 inch, $1,460 at 1 1/2 inches, $1,950 at 2 inches.
• 1,000 hard enamel: $1,350 at 1 inch, $1,600 at 1 1/2 inches, $2,350 at 2 inches.

So stepping 100 soft enamel pins up from 1 inch to 1.5 inches adds $32 to the whole order. At 1,000 pieces the same step adds $210, and the jump to 2 inches is where the price really starts moving. Our minimum is 50 pieces, and every price includes free design, the mold and setup, and shipping to one US address. If the size changes during proofing, we'll tell you the new price before you approve. For the bigger picture on cost, see how much it costs to make enamel pins.

Size, thickness and weight

A bigger pin isn't only wider. Standard enamel pins between 0.75 and 1.5 inches are usually 1.2 to 1.5 mm thick, and larger trading pins go up toward 2 mm. More metal means more weight on the fabric, which is where backing choice comes in. Our full breakdown is in how thick are custom lapel pins.

The heavier the pin, the more a single post and clutch has to hold. For bigger pins, look at a locking deluxe clutch, a magnet bar, or a second post, all covered in our guide to the different types of lapel pin backings.

Mistakes we see with pin size

• Ordering 3 inches for a lapel. We still catch this one on the phone. A pin meant for a lapel rarely needs to go past 1.5 inches.
• Quoting the height of a wide logo. You'll get a pin half the width you pictured, or double.
• Choosing 1/2 inch for a detailed logo. Fine lines and small text fill in or disappear. Simplify the art or go up a size.
• Going small on a trading pin to save money. Dropping from 1.5 inches to 1 inch saves roughly 20 to 50 cents a pin on our price list, depending on style and quantity, and small trading pins don't trade.
• Skipping the size line on the proof. It's the last chance to change it for free.

If you want to hold the pin before committing to a full run, we offer custom samples at $200 per design, and $125 of that is credited to the full order if you go ahead with no changes.

FAQ

What is the most common lapel pin size?

One inch, about the size of a quarter. Most corporate, school, club and awareness pins fall between 1 and 1.25 inches.

What size is a trading pin?

Most trading pins are 1.5 to 2 inches. Teams trade on visibility, and larger pins stand out on a lanyard or trading board.

What's the smallest size you can make a lapel pin?

Half an inch is the practical minimum on our price list. Below that, there's no room for detail.

How big is a 1-inch pin?

About the size of a US quarter, or 25.4 mm on its longest side.

Is pin size measured across or diagonally?

Neither, necessarily. It's the longest side, top to bottom or left to right. Never the diagonal.

Does a bigger lapel pin cost more?

A little. At 100 soft enamel pins, 1 inch is $292 and 1.5 inches is $324 on our current pricing.

Not sure what size fits your design?

Send us your logo or a sketch and tell us how the pin will be worn. We'll send a free digital proof, usually within 4 hours, with the size marked on it, and we'll suggest a different size if your artwork needs one. Production runs 10 to 15 business days after you approve the proof and pay. Get a free quote.