One Organization, Many Challenge Coin Orders
One of the great things about being a supplier of custom challenge coins, is that when you provide a product as high quality as ours, your customers are more likely to keep coming back year after year. We’ve mentioned our great relationship with the Armada de Chile in the past, as well as our work with the 501st Legion. These are two organizations that we get orders in from almost monthly. But another organization that returns regularly for challenge coins is the Multinational Force and Observers.A massive organization and military installation, the MFO is not one of the most popular or visable institutions in the world, but their actions are crucial, and they’re one organization that understands rewarding the bravery and dedication of their personnel. Here’s a small sampling of some of the coins we’ve been lucky enough to create for them over the years.
Stamping an Identity in Metal
Much like NATO, the MFO started with a peace treaty. The 1979 Treaty of Peace between Egypt and Israel saw the two countries come together in an attempt to achieve a kind of lasting peace the region had never before seen. In an effort to protect the treaty, and ensure the peace lasted, they requested a force and observers to supervise the implementation of the Treaty from the UN. When it became clear that the UN couldn’t consistently provide this force, the countries partnered with a number of different nations and created the MFO to achieve these ends.This unique origin is one of the many things that makes the MFO such an interesting organization. It’s also a large military installation that’s specifically dedicated to keeping the peace and upholding the treaty. Of course such an organization would endeavour to keep its personal stamp on its challenge coins.
One thing we’ve become very familiar with over the years is the MFO logo. As with most of our customers, their logo, in essence the organization’s signature, shows up on almost all of their coins in some fashion or another.
For some of the coins, like this one, the dove and olive branch make up the entire core of the coin. The use of strategic cutouts shapes the interior of this high polish gold coin into the popular MFO symbol. Anyone who receives this Force Commander’s Coin is sure to be impressed by the high perceived value and the exceptional craftsmanship. At 2”, this coin is on the larger size, but one of the interesting aspects of cutouts is that they can make these large coins feel more lightweight.
A lot of the coins from the MFO honor the multinational aspect of the organization. This coin is cut-to-shape in the outline of the K9 Unit symbol. All of the different country flags that make up the MFO can be found on the back along with the MFO logo itself. But the real star of the show is the 3D mold of the dog.
Multinational But Still Specific
Multiple different countries contribute troops to the MFO. As a truly multinational organization, a lot of the MFO coins pay homage to all of the countries who participate in their mission. But there are also a number of coins that focus on one country in particular while still including the others as well.
This coin, celebrating Canada’s contribution to the force, features the Canadian Maple Leaf on the obverse while dedicating the reverse face to all of the other country flags.
This coin for the New Zealand Contingent has a lot in common with the Canadian coin above. From the Kiwi-centric front face to the multinational back.
Anyone looking to take it all a step farther can draw inspiration from this coin for the Australian Contingent. Not only does the Aussie flag makeup the entire design for the front face, the entire coin is cut-to-shape in the outline of the continent, and there’s a functional bottle opener at the bottom of the coin for good measure.
Not all of the coins created in relation to one specific country within the MFO feel the same need to include the full seal. This coin from a recent order was created specifically in celebration of Operation Mazurka, the Australian Defense Force’s contribution to the MFO. It’s the equivalent of unit challenge coins we regularly see from other military units across the world. With images of Australian wildlife, the flag and the outline of the continent, this coin is less multinational in its design than some of the others. But it’s high level of detail and the stark white background makes it quite impressive to behold all the same.
Peace Is a Balancing Act
On the surface, the MFO and the 501st Legion couldn’t be more different. But both customers have an uncanny ability to exercise a level of balance with the designs of their challenge coins. The 501st Legion coins fuse elements of Star Wars with other images from pop culture. Their coins never feel over designed or too stuffed with different elements. The MFO has found a similar ability to create coins that encompass all of the great work they do, and honor all of the different countries who have come together to make their mission a success, without ever feeling too busy.If any of these coins for the Multinational Force and Observers inspires you, let us know and we can create a coin that borrows some of the same design elements to bring your vision to life. If you work at MFO and haven’t ordered challenge coins for the people on your team yet, let our team of artists get to work on a special coin for you. Having worked with the MFO for so many years, we know exactly how best to create a product that perfectly suits your specific contingent while also celebrating the entire organization.
