Chairman Mao badges
Project leader: Helen Wang
Department: Coins and Medals
Project end date: 2007
Description:
Chairman Mao badges can be seen as icons of China’s Cultural
Revolution (1966-1976). They were worn by everyone from the
smallest child to Prime Minister Zhou Enlai (except for ‘class
enemies’ who were forbidden to wear them at all) as an expression
of loyalty to Chairman Mao. Mass-produced throughout China, made in
plastic, metal, bamboo and porcelain, and in a great variety of
different styles, they have been collector’s items ever since.
Today, serious Mao badge collections in China start at 10,000
badges. By comparison, the British Museum has a small collection of
300 Mao badges. This project looks at those 300 badges in detail,
exploring the symbolism and slogans on them in a systematic way.
The publication will also provide extensive text and image
glossaries relevant to the Cultural Revolution.
Objectives:
To produce the book ‘Chairman Mao badges:
symbols and slogans of the Cultural Revolution’ (publication due
Jan 2008).
Publications:
H. Wang, ‘Mao on Money’, Eastern Art
Journal: Studies in Material Culture vol. 1, no. 2 (2003), pp.
86-97
Image: A Chairman Mao badge from China,
made during the Cultural Revolution, 1960s