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Red Guards 3

In addition to their appetite for struggle and street-fighting, Red Guards also demonstrated a remarkable capacity for organisation. By the middle of July 1966, Red Guards from Beijing had already spread their revolutionary zeal to cities across China. As a counterpoint to the hostility between opposing groups, numerous congresses tried to achieve a degree of unity. Although the Red Guards never managed form a single national organisation, the various grouping co-operated to build a shadow news network that almost rivalled Xinhua in terms of its countrywide coverage.

Vinyl tie-on armband for the Shanghai Secondary Schools' Red Guard Congress

h. 22mm w. 20mm 1.8g

h. 34mm w. 31mm 3.5g

Below left: Red Guard badge issued by the Shangdong Red Congress

Below right: badge issued by the Shenyang Secondary Schools' Red Guard Congress

h. 15mm w. 23mm 0.9g

h. 12mm w. 20mm 0.9g

h. 19mm w. 31mm 1.8g

Some Red Guard badges are best described as generic - they do not refer to a particular group or date.

Above left: the obscured reverse inscription reads "Beijing Badge Factory"

Above centre: "Long Live Red Guards", possibly made in Quanzhou, Fujian

Above right: "Wuhan Red Guard", the same reverse inscription was used on non-Red Guard badges produced in Wuhan.

Right: removed from a production line at the Changchun Sign Factory before anodising and colouring

h. 28mm w. 30mm 1.7g

A further category of Red Guard badges can be identified: those with the obverse inscription "Red Guard" but issued by civil or military authorities and often dated after the Chairman's dismissal of the Red Guards on 28th July 1966. Some, if not all, of these badges were intended at parting gifts to rusticated youth.

The badge at left was issued by the Tall Red Willow Military District around Liuzhou in Guangxi shortly before the establishment of a provincial-level revolutionary committee.

40mm 6.1g

64mm 6.5g

41mm 5.4g