“Syg wie de wottsch” – This is the Basel 2025 carnival badge

This year, the Basel carnival plaque stands for inclusivity. The appropriate motto “Syg wie de wottsch” takes up the current discussion about “people’s right to self-determination and the associated gender issue,” says badge boss Mathias Brenneis at the press conference on Saturday morning. It is a theme that carnival has always internalized. “At carnival it doesn’t matter whether a man is dressed up as an old aunt or a woman is dressed up as a Waggis.” The motto is surprisingly political – the Basel Carnival Committee tends to do so Avoid socially critical topicsin order not to jeopardize the successful sale of the badge.

The plaque was designed by the 50-year-old Basel graphic artist Guido Happle. It is his fourth: he was able to design the Blaggedde in 2016, 2017 and 2024. For the current issue, Happle chose an abstract style. The plaque depicts a fictional carnival figure, composed of various symbols for the various units. To recognize all these individual parts, you may need a second or even third look.

The figure’s head is a mix between Harlequin and Blatzlibajass. The collar shows a Ueli on the left side and a Pierrot on the right. The carnival figure also wears the skirt of an old Dante and the Zoggeli of a Waggis. In her six hands she carries a stick lantern, a zeedel, drumsticks, timpani and piccolo as well as a helge and a drum major’s stick. The plaque therefore represents all of the carnival participants: pipers and drummers, Vorträbler, Guggen musicians, Waggis floats and Schnitzelbängg. The gold plaque is accompanied by a gold, mirror-inverted heart in the style of the logo for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 supplemented in Basel.

The ESC heart on the golden plaque was added later, says Mathias Brenneis. For the selection process, artists only have to provide a design for the copper plaque. At the time of the election in mid-August, no one knew that the ESC would take place in Basel. As Basel declared host city the golden plaque was supplemented with the asymmetrical heart – mirror-inverted, to avoid accusations of copying.

Jean Tinguely on Basler Blaggedde

In an interview with this editorial team, plaque artist Happle reveals another detail: the face of Jean Tinguely can be seen on the stick lantern. The famous Swiss artist, who, among other things, created the carnival fountain, would have been 100 years old in 2025.

For Happle, the choice of the carnival committee came as a surprise: “I could hardly believe that it would be my turn again.” He created the design for the plaque a few years ago. But the topic is more relevant today than ever. “There is currently a lot of discussion surrounding gender,” says Happle. He therefore wanted to “interpret the theme in a carnival way” on the plaque. “At Carnival, all social classes come together and present themselves as a unit.” No matter whether you are a doctor or a construction worker – at Carnival you can simply be a carnival person. Or as it says in Blaggedde-Värs 2025:

Everyone is happy about each other

Herrlig Gwiehl e Duurenander

Pointed number to the carnival git

And everyone happily joins in

Where you don’t want that

I can use it as a role model

And everyone wants to

Colorful, loud and shrill.

The prices for the plaques remain unchanged: the copper plaque costs ten francs, the silver one costs twenty francs, and the gold one costs fifty francs. The jewelry and the pendant are sold for one hundred francs each. By purchasing a plaque, the Basel carnival formations are supported directly and indirectly. 30 percent of the sales price goes directly to the cliques. The remaining 70 percent is distributed to the formations in the form of subsidies after deducting the costs of production and committee management. The badge can now also be purchased online via the Website of the Carnival Committee be ordered.

The plaques go on sale on January 4, 2025 at 8 a.m. The plaque is again minted by René F. Müller AG. Anyone who treats themselves to a gold plaque, a jewel or a pendant can travel for free on the Rhine ships operated by Basel passenger shipping from January 9th to March 2nd.

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Andrea Schuhmacher is an editor in the Basel local department. It is primarily dedicated to topics from the Basel area communities and the Basel carnival.More info

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