Serve the People

This slogan is the title of one of the "three constantly-read articles"; it was originally written by Mao in 1944 as a memorial speech for Zhang Side, a soldier and party member killed in an industrial accident. The underlying message of the speech, and the subsequently published and widely promoted essay or "article" was - Serve the people, even at the risk of your own life and fear no sacrifice.

Although it was used in other contexts, this slogan is most commonly seen on rectangular Maozhang, with the five characters against a plain red ground that usually had vertical striations. In this form the slogan formed one half of the "star and bar" badge set that was issued to all members of the PLA, although many other organisations also issued badges of similar size and shape.