Illustration of a pink smiley face with green stars for eyes and green text on the black smile and pink text on the outer white edge

The British New Wave band Sigue Sigue Sputnik released the single “Success” to minimal critical acclaim in 1988. This button features the cover of the single, and reflects the cheeky and garish esthetic that the group took as their trademark. Although the group disbanded in 1989, they reunited frequently in subsequent years, often with changes in personnel.

Yellow smiley faced button with black text around the rim. 

Norfolk and Western Railway was a class I railroad founded by more than 200 railroad mergers from 1838 and 1982. During the Civil War, the NW played an important role for moving items in the Confederacy. Employing coal for much of its life, the NW Railway was profitable through WWI and WWII paying regular dividends throughout the Great Depression.

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Lime green button with black smiley face and black text. 

Jetsgo Airlines was a low-cost airline based in Montreal, Canada. They were founded in 2001 and operated throughout North America, with 19 destinations in Canada and 10 in the United States. Although they were ranked as the third largest carrier in Canada at one time, they abruptly ended service on March 11, 2005 and filed bankruptcy. The sudden cease in service left thousands of travelers stranded and 1350 employees out of work. 

Black text and an illustration of a smiley face on a bright orange background

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

“Hi! We’re glad you’re here” is a phrase that is used as a greeting by the proprietor of an establishment when guests, members, or customers enter the room.

White button with red smiley face person and yellow text. 

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Yellow button with black text and the image of an orange smiling sun in the middle. 

The Smiling Sun is the international symbol of the anti-nuclear power movement.  It was designed by anti-nuclear activists, Anne Lund and Soren Lisberg, for Denmark's OOA (Organization for Information on Atomic Energy) in 1975. Smiling Sun buttons were originally passed out at the May 1st celebration in Arhus Denmark, but soon were used by anti-nuclear activists around the world, with the words "Nuclear Power? No Thanks" translated into over 40 languages. This message was designed to be polite and friendly, but firm, and to encourage dialog.  The sun was chosen as a symbol of hope because it sustains life on earth. The button is yellow because shops in Denmark use black letters on a yellow background for their signs, so Lund and Soren felt it was a welcoming color. 

White square button with reflective black, green and yellow striped circle in the middle. White text and the image of a warrior with a spear and sheild. 

The African National Congress (ANC) is a South African political party which opposed Apartheid. Since Nelson Mandela won the 1994 Presidential election, they have dominated South African politics. This button is in the party's colors. Black represents native South Africans, green represents the land, and gold represents the minerals that make up South Africa's wealth. 

Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) was the military wing of the ANC. They were formed after the 1960 Sharpseville Massacre killed 69 anti-Apartheid protesters. Umkhonto we Sizwe used violence and terrorism to convince the government of South Africa to end Apartheid. Nelson Mandela explained the creation of the Umkhonto we Sizwe as a last resort when peaceful protest was met with violence. He stressed that the goal was still a unified South Africa with freedom for people of all races. The warrior holding a spear and shield was the symbol of this militant wing of the ANC and represents the African warriors who resisted colonial rule.

Navy blue button with white text. 

Congressman Sidney Yates ran for Senate in 1962 for the State of Illinois. He lost by a narrow margin to Republican Everett Dickerson, even though President Kennedy campaigned for him. He served in the House of Representatives from 1949-1963 and 1965-1999, making him one of the longest serving U.S. Congressmen. Yates was an outspoken supporter of the arts and the state of Israel and an early opponent of age discrimination.

Black text on an orange button.

Ronald Reagan was an actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild starting in 1947. In the 1960s he became a conservative Republican politician. He served as Governor of California from 1967-1975 and was elected president in 1980. This anti-Reagan button comes from the 1970s when Reagan was Governor of California. The slogan "Ronald Reagan is a Lesbian" comes from a sign used in the play Hair, which debuted on Broadway in 1968. This sign was either used in protest scenes or hung on the set with other signs to show the political and cultural turmoil of the 1960s. Hair showed the hippie and counterculture movements, which Reagan was critical of. U.C. Berkeley was an early center of the counterculture and protest movements portrayed in Hair, and Reagan was especially critical of the protest on campus in the late 1960s, when he was Governor of California.  

Black text on a yellow button.

Eugene McCarthy was a U.S. Congressman and Senator who ran for president against President Johnson in the 1968 race. He was encouraged to run by liberal antiwar activists looking for a peace candidate to run against Johnson. McCarthy had supported the Vietnam war until 1966, but agreed to run for President on a platform to end the war. His strong showing in early primaries encouraged Johnson to drop out of the race and Robert Kennedy to run. He was supported early on by many young people and antiwar activists, many of whom later left to join the Kennedy campaign. McCarthy lost to Vice President Hubert Humphrey in the Democratic Primary.