Brooches during the war

On 4 May in the Netherlands we commemorate victims of war, and on 5 May we celebrate the fact that we live in freedom.
I love the role brooches played in history. A few days ago I came across this blogpost on Modemuze. It is written by the junior conservator jewellery from Het Rijksmuseum. It explains about how brooches were being worn during the war. About the materials that was used. And of course the message the jewelry (secretly) sent. It shows multiple brooches from Marjan Unger, who donated her entire jewellery collection (lots of brooches) to the Rijksmuseum. Read the blogpost here. It’s in Dutch.

I love the World War II Victory brooches I come across online. Let’s take a look at some:

The “V” sign, a gesture of defiance and solidarity, was first suggested in January 1941 by the liberal Belgian politician, Victor de Laveleye.
He encouraged the use of the symbol because V stood for both victoire (“victory” in French) and vrijheid (“freedom” in Dutch).