Chairman Mao badge

This badge is one of millions of Chairman Mao badges produced during the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-76). The height of the badge phenomenon was reached in 1969 at the time of the 9th National Congress. The craze ended in 1971. The donor Michael Dobson acquired this badge in either 1970 or 1971 when he was in secondary school, possibly purchasing it from Resistance bookshop in Wellington. His acquisition of it far away from China and its original context is an interesting example of where politics meets counter-culture fashion and youthful rebellion in Western culture.

Mao Zedong (1893-1976, China), Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier and statesman, led China’s communist revolution. He was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 until his death, and chairman of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1959, and chairman of the party also until his death.

Chairman Mao badges were worn by almost all Chinese people during their height of popularity (1966-1971) from children to the most senior leaders (indeed most people were expected to wear them, and the bigger the better). Alongside owning a copy of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (first published in 1966 and known as 'The Little Red Book'), wearing a Chairman Mao badge demonstrated loyalty, and was worn just above the heart. However, so many aluminium badges were made in 1969 that their production impacted China's metals industry, and the CCP limited production which hastened their decline.

Michael Dobson bought two such badges and a copy of Quotations. He recalls many years later, ‘I thought that in theory Communism / Socialism is a fair system. As a young person the badges & book were a "screw you" message to "the establishment" of the time. A sign of rebellion in the same way as early Gang members wore Nazi insignia. They weren't white supremacists (Mongrel Mobsters with German helmets!) they just wanted to outrage the old fuddy duddys.’

He wore the badges on his ‘Wrangler jean jacket with my tie-dyed T shirt, Amco 22" flared jeans & blue boots (very on trend)’. He didn’t read the whole ‘Little Red Book’; ‘just the bits about "running dog lackeys, paper tigers & how political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"’ (pers. Corres. 11 Feb 2025).

Chairman Mao badges were made in a variety of materials (aluminium, plastic, bamboo, porcelain, gold, silver, copper, iron and lead), in a variety of shapes and designs. They often looked like this one where his portrait appears in gold against a red background (red symbolises communism and socialism). On the back of the badge is the English text: ‘Long Live Chairman Mao’, indicating that this particular badge was made for foreigners to purchase.