A badge of shame, also a symbol of shame, mark of shame, or simply a stigma, is typically a distinctive symbol required to be worn by a specific group or an individual for the purpose of public humiliation, ostracism, or persecution. Under the Poor Law Act of 1697, paupers in receipt of parish relief were required to wear a badge of blue or red cloth on the shoulder of the right sleeve in an open and visible manner, in order to make life more humiliating for the poor. The yellow badge that Jews were required to wear in parts of Europe during the Middle Ages, and later in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe, was intended to be a badge of shame. The term may also refer to other identifying marks that are associated with shame. The biblical "Mark of Cain" can be interpreted as synonymous with a badge of shame. The term is also used metaphorically, especially in a pejorative sense, to characterize something associated with a person or group as shameful.
Read more about Badge Of Shame: Other Meanings, Fictional Works
Famous quotes containing the words badge of, badge and/or shame:
“Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman,—repose in energy.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Just across the Green from the post office is the county jail, seldom occupied except by some backwoodsman who has been intemperate; the courthouse is under the same roof. The dog warden usually basks in the sunlight near the harness store or the post office, his golden badge polished bright.”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Out of the woods my Master came,
Content with death and shame.
When Death and Shame would woo Him last,
From under the trees they drew Him last:
‘Twas on a tree they slew Him—last
When out of the woods He came.”
—Sidney Lanier (1842–1881)