Five cloth and paper lapel pin badges for the ‘Our Day’ fundraising initiative set up by the Red Cross Society and the Order of St John during the First World War, British, 1915-1918.

As casualties mounted during the First World War, convalescing and war-disabled men became increasingly familiar sights on the streets of Britain. Providing for their many short and long-term welfare needs, as well as those of their ex-comrades still in service, became a major focus of activities on the home front. Over the course of the war, thousands of charities were established to help raisesuch funds.

‘Our Day’ was a very successful initiative set up by the Red Cross Society and the Order of St John. The event appeared for the first time in 1915, after which it occurred annually throughout the course of the war. Amongst the ‘Our Day’ activities was the selling of small cloth or paper lapel pin badges, often shaped like flags, usually for a penny each. They were made to many different designs which incorporated the red cross and sometimes the cross of the Order of St John. In this group of five are depicted a motorised ambulance, a nurse, patriotic flags and two images of a smiling man wearing the distinctive uniform of the convalescing military veteran – known as ‘hospital blues’.

By the end of the war, the equivalent of hundreds of millions pounds in today’s money had been raised through the ‘Our Day’ scheme.