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Movimiento 26 de Julio Shield Lapel Pin (M-26-7 insignia)
Object/Artifact
A small shield-shaped (escutcheon) enamel pin with a gilt rim. The upper field is red enamel lettered "MOVIMIENTO" in gilt across the top; the lower field is black enamel lettered "JULIO" in gilt along the point; at center, a white enamel disc carries a gilt "26."
2025.2.32
Obtained in Cuba by Anna Veltfort and brought to New York City with her when she moved back to the US.
The badge bears the name of the 26 of July Movement, the insurrectionary organization Fidel Castro founded in 1955 (named for the failed 1953 assault on the Moncada barracks) that waged the urban-and-rural struggle culminating in Batista's fall on 1 January 1959. Membership and supporter insignia circulated during the clandestine insurrection and the early revolutionary period, before the Movement was absorbed into the ORI (1961) and successor parties.
Anna Veltfort collection
2025.2
Anna Veltfort
Gift
circa 1959
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
Maker/Attribution: Unmarked and unidentified. Cuban — or possibly produced within the Cuban exile/solidarity network that funded the Movement in 1957–1958 (tentative). Date: circa 1955–1961 (the Movement's lifespan as a named organization). May date to the insurrectionary period (1955–1958, at or before the collection's nominal 1959 lower bound) or to the early revolutionary years (1959–1961); not narrowable from the object (flag). Place: Cuba (or Cuban émigré community) (tentative).
Inscription
Movimiento 26 Julio
Spanish
26th of July Movement
1.7 cm
1.3 cm
Single enamel-on-metal shield badge.
Metal
Stamped metal (brass) with red, black, and white enamel and gilt lettering and rim.
Fair
Anna Veltfort
owner
M-26-7
imagery
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
acquisition, possibly production
New York City
New York
U.S.A.
North America
preservation