Chairman Mao badge
| Chairman Mao badge | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 毛主席像章 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Máo zhǔxí xiàngzhāng [mǎu ʈʂùɕǐ ɕjâŋʈʂáŋ] |
| Gwoyeu Romatzyh | Mau juushyi shianqjang |
| Wade–Giles | Máo chǔhsí hsiàngchāng |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| IPA | [mȍu tɕy̌ːtɕɪ̀k tsœ̀ːŋtsœ̂ːŋ] |
| Jyutping | Mou4 zyu2zik6 zoeng6zoeng1 |
Chairman Mao badge (Chinese: 毛主席像章; pinyin: Máo zhǔxí xiàngzhāng) is the name given to a type of pin badge displaying an image of Mao Zedong that was ubiquitous in the People's Republic of China during the early period of the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1971. The term is also used for badges associated with Mao that do not actually have a picture of him on them. Chairman Mao badges were, together with the "little red book", one of the most visible and iconic manifestations of the Cult of Mao. It is estimated that several billion Chairman Mao badges were produced during the period of the Cultural Revolution.
Badges depicting Mao Zedong first appeared at the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political College (中国人民抗日军事政治大学) at Yan'an during the 1930s. These early badges were homemade, usually being constructed out of the metal from used toothpaste tubes.
By the 1940s badges showing Mao by himself or together with other important people were being produced in small numbers as commemorative medals or as awards for service to the communist party or to the army. Unlike the later Cultural Revolution period badges, which normally portrayed Mao by himself, these badges frequently portrayed Mao side by side with other Chinese revolutionary figures such as Zhu De, Chen Yi, He Long, Lin Biao and Lu Xun, or showed Mao with communist leaders from other countries, such as Stalin and Kim Il Sung. During this period badges were smaller but more robust than the Cultural Revolution period badges, and some badges produced during the 1950s were even made of gold (initially 22 carat, but later reduced to 13 or 14 carat).
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