We’re not meant to have favourites… but our Heraldry Curator has a soft spot for all things Sweetheart Brooches.

Sweetheart Brooches were a keepsake gifted to loved ones during WWI and WWII. Made from materials such as gold, enamel, mother of pearl or brass (even perspex from the broken windscreens of aircraft, tortoiseshell, and coconut shells), they were given by soldiers to their mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, or girlfriends. These brooches came in a varied range of designs. They could be miniature versions of a soldier’s unit badges or uniform buttons, mass-produced ‘Battlefield’ souvenir brooches, and ‘Trench Art’ made by the soldier from material souvenired from the battlefield. The more entrepreneurial would make brooches and other items that could be sold to fellow soldiers.

This WWI Sweetheart Brooch, highlighted in honour of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment’s Regimental Day, is a gold rifle surmounted by a fern with ‘NZ’ in the centre. Attached below the rifle is 23/1261, the Regimental No. of Benjamin John Shardlow, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. The brooch was originally set with three precious stones, but one is missing.