May Day 1948 badge

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Type: Political badges
Materials: Metal - non specific, Plastic
Collection: Deborah Turner collection
Accession number: 2009.0039.0009

Description

A red metal circular badge with a plastic coating over a red printed design with white text reading 'MAY DAY / 1948'. A metal pin is attached vertically on the verso.

About the collection

The Deborah Turner collection is comprised of 103 badges - 69 of which reference the Communist Party of Australia's (CPA) involvement in a range of emancipatory projects: such as anti-war appeals, Australian Federal Politics, indigenous equality and woman's rights. The other 33 badges reference May Day, a celebration of the labour movement and the fight for an eight hour day. The badges in the Deborah Turner collection cover an extensive period in the history of the CPA and the South Coast District Committee (SCDC). The 69 disparate badges in the collection account for a number of the Communist Party interests in Australia over a fifty year period. The other 33 badges in the Deborah Turner collection relate to May Day. This collection speaks to the connection between protest paraphernalia and a political message, and will form a significant collection of political campaign badges from the mid 20th Century.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 6:26:53 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-03-25. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.