Chinese Mao Zedong Lapel Pin

Red-striped flag whips behind a pale profile and a lettered tag.

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. Dark diagonal stripes on the red flag look like folds in cloth. A silvery head in profile sits at the upper left, and a small cream label with raised characters hangs at the lower left corner. It is 1 inches wide and 0.75 high.

Windblown, neatly tagged, and quietly proud of both.