Name/TitlePin flag: Scottish Women's "Allies Hospital Day"
About this objectSmall thistle-shaped pin flag bearing on both sides the words 'Scottish Women's "Allies Hospital Day"' above the crossed flags of France and Serbia.
Date Madec.1914-18
PeriodFirst World War
Medium and MaterialsInorganic, metal
Organic, paper
MeasurementsH: 51 x W: 27 mm (including pin)
Subject and Association KeywordsFirst World War
Subject and Association Keywordswomen's war work
Subject and Association KeywordsNursing
Subject and Association DescriptionThe Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. They were led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and sent to serve in Corsica, France, Malta, Romania, Russia, Salonika and Serbia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Women%27s_Hospitals_for_Foreign_Service)
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/fundraising-pins-and-badges:
Fundraising was a feature throughout the First World War, although the heyday of street collections was 1914-1915, before conscription and rationing took a grip on the nation. There were flag-day appeals to support prisoners of war, refugees (especially Belgian), the wounded (especially the blinded or ‘crippled’), and for organisations such as Red Cross & St John’s. The ‘flags’ (usually paper, sometimes tin, silk, wool, cloth, pressed foil, or natural ‘sprigs’) survive in surprising numbers. Often they are found inside autograph books, with the collection of entries from wounded soldiers a particular craze amongst middle- and upper- class girls; the same girls were often also the flag sellers.
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypeFlag
Object numberGWL-2016-97-6
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved