Hidden English - Long Life

The greatest numbers of bilingual Maozhang are Chinese-English; an acknowledgement perhaps that English was already the closest thing to a worldwide lingua franca. Few, if any, aluminium badges had English on the obverse; the foreign language was confined to the reverse side, which was hidden from view if the badge was worn. In most cases the English inscription translates a Chinese obverse inscription. One possible explanation for exceptions to this is that "domestic" obverse dies were paired with (much more easily produced) reverse dies bearing English text in order to produce Maozhang for export.