Chinese Mao Zedong Lapel Pin

Red disc, calm profile, and a tiny palace roof for company.

This Mao Zedong lapel pin is from China, and dates to the 20th century. After Mao's death in 1976, the Communist Party began a process of de-Mao-ization, and much memorabilia was destroyed, statues were taken down, and many badges were collected and melted into functional objects. Pale, mirror-bright relief forms a left-facing head with a tidy collar. At the base, a small gold pavilion with a tiered roof and low wings projects beneath the red disc. The surface is clean, with a faint blush of rainbow tones. It is 1.5 inches in diameter.

Everything is symmetrical except the ambition.