Drawing pin

A drawing pin (in British English) or [thumb] tack (in North American English), also called a push-pin, is a short, small pin or nail with a flat, broad head that can be pressed into place with pressure from the thumb, often used for hanging light articles on a wall or noticeboard.

[1] These terms are particularly used in the idiomatic expression to come (or get) down to brass (or otherwise) tacks, meaning to consider basic facts of a situation.

In 1903, in the German town of Lychen, clockmaker Johann Kirsten invented flat-headed pins for use with drawings, although other sources credit Austrian factory owner Heinrich Sachs with inventing a pin pressed from a single disk of metal in 1888.

The head is wide to distribute the force of pushing the pin in, allowing only the hands to be used.

[7] Drawing pins also pose a hazard of ingestion and choking, where they may do serious harm.