Part of the worldwide Core City Icon Series. Each pin is a large guitar body with silver base metal, a prominent city name and one or more iconic local images. Design is 3D pin on pin, with Hard Rock Casino logo as top layer and all other elements as bottom layer.
Vancouver pin features a large Totem Pole centered at the top over a light blue sky. It has an eagle head with wings spread out. The totem pole closely resembles one located on Brockton Point, which is in Stanley Park. A plaque in Stanley Park describes Indian Totem Poles: "The Totem was the British Columbia Indian's "Coat of Arms". Totem Poles are unique to the North West Coast of B.C. and Lower Alaska. They were carved from western red cedar and each carving tells of a real or mythical event. They were not idols. Nor were they worshipped. Each carving on each pole has a meaning. The Eagle represents the Kingdom of the Air. The Whale, the Lorship of the Sea. The Wolf, the Genius of the Land. And the Frog, the Transitional Link Between Land and Sea."
Hard Rock Casino dark yellow and purple logo is at center of pin and has no city name. It is centered across the image of a bridge that appears to be the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge (also known as Second Narrows Bridge), which connects Vancouver to the North Shore. The bridge is a steel struss cantilever bridge. In this design, between the trusses are large green trees. The province is known for its forested areas with very large trees. Beneath the logo is another Totem Pole, this time with a Thunderbird head with colorful open wings. On either side of the wings is a black and white Orca killer whale jumping out of the water with water splashing upwards by their tails. Orcas are an icon of marine wildlife in the Pacific Northwest.
At the center of the bottom Totem Pole is a white sign with red ends that has the city name in large silver capital letters. Around the sign is darker blue for the ocean. Also, on either side of the sign are two silver Pacific Dogwood flowers with leaves and long stems. The stems cross at the bottom of the pin. The Pacific Dogwood is the official flower of British Colubmia. A red maple leaf is centered below the sign and above the crossed stems.
Core pin; not limited edition. Back of pin does not state quantity or manufacturer. Staff confirmed in the computer inventory that 300 were made/sent. This would normally be reordered as it is a Core pin but as the Casino is seizing operations as a Hard Rock location, only 300 were procduced.
Of note: This icon pin was 1 of 4 pins that arrived at the Casino in March 2020, just before shutting down due to the Covid pandemic. Stored in a "safe place" these 4 pins were MIA until found in a storage area in August 2023.
Base material: Silver appearance
Style: Painted
Back print: 3 lines
Back pattern: Hard Rock Cafe logos and crossed guitars
Distribution method: Retail
Release date: August 21, 2023
Original retail price: $14.95 CAD
