Top half red text on black background, bottom half black text on red background

This pinback button is from the green movement of the '70's. It began with Earth Day in 1971.

Yellow all capitalized text on red background.

This button most likely represents the views of those who oppose America’s use of fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) as the primary source of energy for the nation. Many believe that using oil as a source of energy come at the cost of human and environmental health problems through air pollution, damage to the land, environmental degradation, water pollution, and sickness. There are also national security impacts of fossil fuel use. During the Persian Gulf War, U.S. troops were sent to the Gulf in part to guard against a possible cutoff of the U.S.’s oil supply. 

Blue text on fluorescent pink background.

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White text on black background

The Moral Majority was an American political organization that started in 1979 and dissolved in the late 1980s. At it's height, it represented the views of millions of conservative lobbyists, supporting ideas such as anti-choice and classroom prayer and rejecting ideas such as gay marriage and sex education. The protest represented by this button is that the organization was neither moral nor the majority. 

Illustration of a U.S. flag flying from a flag pole, printed on a white background surrounded by a jagged blue border.

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Bold purple outlined text on a light yellow background.

This button was created by Donnelly/Colt Progressive Resources, a family-owned business that designs and distributes materials for promoting progressive messages on social issues.

White background with red Women's Liberation logo

Robin Morgan designed this button for the 1969 Miss America Pageant protest. There are many versions of similar buttons.  The color of the symbol, now synonymous with the Women's Rights Movement, is "menstrual red." Morgan selected the name out of concern that the cosmetics company sponsoring the pageant would use the red color to sell lipstick. 

Black text on white background

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Red stop sign with white text above black text on white background.

"Stop Civilian Review Boards" was a slogan coined by opponents of a movement to add civilian members to Civilian Complaint Review Boards previously administered by New York City policemen. Civilian Complaint Review Boards were around since 1953, but previously had handled complaints by New York civilians against the police using a committee that consisted solely of civilian administrators of the police department. Supporters of the referendum touted it as a tool against racism, while the police opposed it and eventually the public voted the bill down. In 1987, the New York Civilian Review Board started admitting civilians that were unaffiliated with the police department.

White background with red, white, and blue butterfly graphic; blue text with red, white, and blue "O"

The image on this button was designed by McQ Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana. The company was founded by Robert McQuade who was an advertising agent who wanted to encourage a large voter turnout.  The company created many items with vote logos on them like this button and interestingly, a record by The Fourth Room titled Vote that uses the same image. "Vote" is the A-side song about voting written by the American jingle writer Ed Labunski. The record was released on McQ Records in Indianapolis Indiana in 1971. 

The image of the butterfly on the button represents peace and freedom and was meant to appeal to “free spirited youth”. While the image on the other button in the Button Museum’s collection of an eagle with a tear was meant to represent the pain the country felt over the Vietnam War and to appeal to older patriotic Americans.