A passport stamp became a platform for culture

Why “Emblem”

As a teenager I spent most of my free time playing Call of Duty. What kept me hooked wasn't only the game, it was the emblems: small badges you unlocked for achievements, each one proof that you'd been somewhere and done something. I collected them obsessively.

My mother didn't love this. She kept telling me to go out and see the world. Eventually she stopped telling me and painted it instead: me on the floor, eyes on the screen, while behind me an open window looked out onto a beach, boats on the water, and a woman waiting in bed. Her message wasn't subtle. Everything beautiful in life was right there, and I had my back to it.

At 18 I learned I could claim a Luxembourgish passport. I sold my console, quit university and moved to Luxembourg, where I started over: new studies, new life, and eventually a lot of travel. More than sixty countries so far.

Somewhere along the way I realised I'd never stopped collecting. I'd just swapped virtual badges for real places. Emblem is that instinct, turned around: souvenirs you unlock by actually being there, in the world my mother painted behind me.

For a moment, the world felt united.

Emblem began with a contrast at Expo 2020 Dubai: visitors loved collecting passport stamps while many artists and cultural stories struggled to be seen.

At Expo 2020 Dubai, Daniel Michels met Ten, an artist exhibiting at the Chad Pavilion, while visitors moved rapidly between Pavilions collecting passport stamps.

Daniel recalls that Ten's paintings were difficult for casual visitors to buy and carry. The art held cultural value, but the small stamp was what travelled easily and drew the crowd.

The Emblem logo is based on Expo 2020 Dubai's portal

The framed perspective of the Emblem mark was developed from the Expo entry portals designed by Asif Khan: thresholds into a shared space of countries, culture and dialogue. In Emblem, the frame becomes a digital gateway into a place, its culture and its souvenirs.

As the son of an artist, Daniel recognised that gap. He had seen his mother create valuable work that still needed the right format to reach people. Emblem began with the question of whether a portable stamp could also carry an artist's authorship, story and cultural meaning.

Luxembourg gave Daniel an opportunity, and he took it.

Emblem won the My Big Idea competition during Ideation Camp 11, an early public validation of the concept.

The Luxembourg Passport · Youth for Peace was developed with support from Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme (2025-2026).

Luxembourg national winner, European Charlemagne Youth Prize

A conversation at the Charlemagne Prize

At the 2026 Charlemagne Prize, H.R.H. the Grand Duke congratulated founder Daniel Michels on the Luxembourg Passport.

Grateful, motivated and ready to continue.

From one passport to cultural bridges

During the 2026 ASEFYLS Capacity Training, Daniel Michels and an international working group explored a preferred future based on sovereign, interoperable globalisation. Emblem independently applies similar principles to cultural platforms through locally shaped Pavilions, connected Passports and transparent authorship.

The Emblem People Passport pilot at IFY 2026 was a success. Participants turned real encounters into shared Dual photos, building a collection of cultural connections across Pavilions and regions.

Emblem is a GPS-verified digital souvenir platform inspired by the Pavilion and passport experience of World Expos.

Daniel Michels

Founder and CEO of Emblem

Daniel is a Brazilian-Luxembourgish founder focused on cultural participation, place-based digital souvenirs and the long-term Digital World Expo model. He leads Emblem from Luxembourg.