Our Story
Medical and nursing pins have a long history, dating back more than 1,000 years to the 12th-century crusades. During this violent time period, those who were devoted to caring for the injured and ill were given large Maltese crosses to wear on the battlefields. These crosses with equal-sized arms were large enough for all to see.
However, Florence Nightingale, hundreds of years later, influenced the modern-day nursing school pinning ceremonies. Hospitals recognized Nightingale’s impact on the field of healthcare and began creating pinning programs beginning in the mid-1880s. Initially, only those nurses with exceptional marks and practice received pins, but that later expanded to a larger audience—including all nurses devoted to the welfare and well-being of society.