1️⃣ Exhibit Name
Team Logo Mosaic Sign (Taiwan)
A fan‑made sign constructed from hundreds of small sticker dots or bottle caps forming the team’s logo. Reflects the DIY craft spirit.
2️⃣ Collection & Image
Figure 1. Team Logo Mosaic Sign – Camera Photo Style
A fan holding a homemade sign made of colorful bottle caps arranged into a CPBL team logo.
3️⃣ Gallery Location
Fan Culture Wing › Signs Hall › Taiwan Gallery
4️⃣ Exhibit Background
The Team Logo Mosaic Sign is a unique, craft‑based fan sign made from hundreds of small sticker dots, bottle caps, or plastic buttons arranged to form a team’s logo. This DIY tradition emerged in the 2000s as CPBL fans sought creative, low‑cost ways to show team pride. Unlike printed signs (mass‑produced) or hand‑painted banners (individual artistry), mosaic signs emphasize patience, recycling, and communal effort – fans often collect bottle caps from stadium drinks or save stickers for months. The finished sign is heavy, textured, and often framed. It is displayed in cheering sections, sometimes passed around the crowd.
5️⃣ Period & Location
- Period: 2000s – present
- Location: Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) stadiums, especially during playoff games and fan festivals
6️⃣ Material & Dimensions
- Material: Plastic bottle caps, adhesive dot stickers, foam board base, glue
- Dimensions: Typically 18″ × 24″ (45 cm × 60 cm) or larger – heavy, not easily held for long periods
- Design: Team logo (e.g., Rakuten Monkeys’ monkey head, Uni‑Lions’ lion, Fubon Guardians’ guardian angel) in team colors
Figure 2. Team Logo Mosaic Sign – Quilling Style
An intricate paper filigree artwork of the team logo, with tightly rolled paper coils forming the shapes, emphasizing the craft and patience of the original fan sign.
7️⃣ Narrative Story
From Trash to Treasure
In the early 2000s, a group of Uni‑Lions fans collected bottle caps from Taiwan Beer – the team’s sponsor. They glued them onto a board in the shape of the Lions’ logo. The sign was heavy, rough, and beautiful. Other fans copied the idea, using coke caps, beer caps, and even plastic spoon handles. The tradition spread across CPBL.
The Sticker Dot Variation
For fans who lacked bottle caps, colored sticker dots (sold in stationery stores) became an alternative. Fans would spend hours placing hundreds of dots onto a pre‑drawn logo outline. The result is smooth, flat, and brightly colored – like a pixelated version of the logo. Some sticker‑dot signs have been in use for over a decade, with faded dots showing their age.
The Weight of Fandom
Bottle‑cap mosaic signs can weigh over 5 kilograms (11 lbs). Holding them for an entire game requires teamwork – two fans share the load. During the 2017 CPBL playoffs, a group of Rakuten Monkeys fans passed a massive bottle‑cap sign around the bleachers, each fan holding it for one inning. The sign became a symbol of shared effort.
Museum Recognition
In 2019, a bottle‑cap mosaic sign of the Uni‑Lions logo was displayed at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in a temporary exhibition titled “Fan Art: The DIY Spirit.” The sign was celebrated as an example of recycled material art and grassroots creativity.
Think About It
- Why do fans spend hours collecting bottle caps or placing sticker dots instead of buying a cheap printed sign?
- What does the physical weight of the bottle‑cap sign symbolize about the effort of fandom?
- How does the “mosaic” method (many small pieces forming one image) reflect the idea of a fan community?
Figure 3. Team Logo Mosaic Sign – Water Puppetry Style
A Vietnamese water puppet theater scene where a wooden puppet (representing a Taiwanese fan) holds a miniature mosaic sign, blending folk performance with baseball fandom.
8️⃣ Current Status & Applications
- Status: Team logo mosaic signs are a niche but beloved tradition in CPBL, often made by long‑time fan clubs.
- Applications: Teams have held mosaic sign contests during fan appreciation days. Some fans create digital mosaics using photo editing software.
- Suggested companion exhibits: Display alongside Player Caricature LED Sign and “Hōng bù hóng” question sign.
9️⃣ Significance & Educational Value
- Significance: The team logo mosaic sign represents patience, recycling, and collective creativity. It elevates everyday trash into a lasting emblem of loyalty.
- Educational value: Encourages visitors to think about material culture – how fans use available objects to express identity – and the environmental dimension of fan art (reusing waste).
🔟 References
- Fan art in CPBL: Bottle cap mosaics. Taiwan Baseball Culture Journal, 2018.
- “Trash to treasure” – Uni‑Lions fan story. United Daily News, 2005.
- National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts exhibit catalog, 2019.
- DIY fan signs: A guide. Rakuten Monkeys official fan magazine, 2021.