Holloway brooch

Sylvia Pankhurst designed this badge for members of the Women's Social and Political Union who had been to prison for the cause, and the first were presented at a mass meeting in the Albert Hall on April 29, 1909. Its silver portcullis, gate and hanging chains are the emblem of the House of Commons; laid over them is the broad arrow of convict clothing, enameled in the suffragette purple, white and green. Wearing it turned a prison sentence into a credential and the state's mark of shame into a badge of courage. Unlike most brooches here, its meaning was designed in from the start and was meant to be read by everyone who saw it.