Chinese Mao Zedong Lapel Pin

Dark red field, cramped gold writing, and a small profile at the side.

This Mao Zedong lapel pin is from China, and dates to the 20th century. Propaganda posters of the era generally pictured a utopian society, with smiling farmers, brave soldiers and happy people gathered around Mao, who was cast as a benevolent father and wise teacher. Deep brownish red fills the rectangle, with a thin gold edge. Several short lines of gold characters fill the left, a gold head in profile faces left at the right, and more lettering runs beneath. It is 1 inches wide and 0.5 high.

Tightly packed with language and gilding.