Both my grandfathers received multiple medals during the war. These medals always fascinated me. Unfortunately, I never learned their origin stories. This design is not only a reference to my grandfathers, but also to my other family members. In a similar way, the

transistors on the broches are a reference to a family member who, during the time of the war, worked with the former “BRT”.

Receiving a badge of honour is an expression of admiration or respect towards someone. Badges of honour are shown for special occasions and thus are a part of our lasting memories and the history of the honoured person. I hereby find myself asking several questions: “Are we still being honoured?”, “What does it mean to honour someone?”, “When should we honour someone and in what way?”, “Is there a downside to a medal and doesn’t it cause stigmatisation?”, ...

These are questions that kept repeating in my head and even followed me around the workspace. I looked back at my own training as a psychiatric nurse and the pin I received, I recalled countless moments of celebration of my colleagues and yet that one question stuck with me ... “Do we honour ourselves enough?”.

With this design, I aspire to make people think and to make people consciously reflect on their own achievements, however big or small they may be.