"Do you have a badge?" is a common greeting heard both inside and outside the Paris Olympic venues. As people gather under the Olympic rings, the small metal badges serve as a "bridge" for emotional communication, enhancing interaction and exchange, and conveying unity and friendship.

The quadrennial Olympic Games brings together many athletes who are already familiar on the international stage. The members of the Chinese table tennis team have prepared numerous badges, which have become the perfect "souvenirs". Athletes from sports delegations such as Japan and Germany have shared photos of themselves wearing the badges and posing with Ma Long and Sun Yingsha on their personal social media, their excitement evident in their posts.

Chinese skateboarder Cui Chenxi's competition bib has long been adorned with various badges. "I will specially bring out the badges to exchange with others." In a few days, Cui Chenxi has gained a lot: "I exchanged badges with dozens of athletes. I collected them together, which is a beautiful Olympic memory."

Several Chinese tennis players also collected a rich collection in the Olympic Village. After arriving at the Olympic Village, Zhang Zhizhen rode a bike with his companions to exchange badges. "I don't usually have the opportunity to meet so many athletes from different sports, so the process of exchanging badges was quite enjoyable." His tennis bag was adorned with numerous badges.

"Before the Olympics, I was really looking forward to communicating with athletes from other sports delegations through this method. Exchanging badges is a unique culture of the Olympics." At the beginning of the Games, Chinese tennis player Wang Xinyu had already exchanged more than ten badges during breakfast time. "When it comes to exchanging badges, everyone will smile and look at each other's badges on their certificates, trying to find the one they like the most." Wang Xinyu will continue to expand her "collection" in the Olympic Village. "I have 40 badges, which I can fully exchange. I am looking forward to the final result.".

On the fencing field, a volunteer from Spain wore a panda-shaped badge on his lanyard, which was exquisite and beautiful. "I exchanged it with a Chinese journalist. It's so cute," the volunteer said.

"In the Games, badges were initially used for identity recognition to distinguish athletes, referees, etc. The first Olympic Village in Olympic history was established at the 1924 Paris Olympics, which facilitated communication among athletes and created ideal conditions for badge exchange," said Guo Lei, an expert on Olympic culture. "At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, we held the Olympic Badge Culture Week and set up a badge exchange center, providing a platform for cultural exchange."

On July 29th, along the banks of the Seine River in Paris, commemorative badges launched by Olympic Global Partner Mengniu were favored by visitors. However, obtaining the badges was not "easy". To encourage the public to participate in sports, the event organizers arranged a sprint race on a track made of 150,000 recycled milk cartons, and the winner could receive a badge. "The badge is exquisite, and it is even more meaningful because I won it through competition," said a tourist from Canada, who pinned the badge on his clothes.

In the Pantin area northeast of Paris, a "Olympic collectors' zone" attracts numerous badge enthusiasts. Guo Lei said, "Badge enthusiasts from all over the world gather here to exchange ideas. Many lovers of Olympic culture began their collection with just a small badge."

Hou Kun, a member of the International Olympic Committee's Culture and Olympic Heritage Committee, brought his daughter to Paris this time, where they exchanged badges with volunteers. Hou Kun said, "The categories of badges are constantly enriched, and elements such as representative buildings and clothing from some countries and regions are incorporated into the badges, which have become a carrier of cultural exchange." Wang Xinyu, holding a badge from Mauritius, said happily, "I like niche badges, and the small animals on this badge are particularly cute."

A small badge brings people closer, conveys unity and friendship, and adds a unique charm to the Olympics.