Insignia with the emblem of Catalonia

During the Civil War, tens of thousands of men were recruited in Catalonia to fight on other fronts. The recruits received a brass badge with the emblem of Catalonia with four bars in red enamel crowned by the legend “CATALUNYA”. The Propaganda Commissariat of the Generalitat of Catalonia (the regional government) produced and distributed these badges. A note published in the Catalan language newspaper La Publicitat, on July 27, 1938, announced:

“The Propaganda Commissariat of the Generalitat of Catalonia, always attentive to the spiritual needs of the Catalan fighters, who are fighting against Fascism, and considering the importance of the four bars being present wherever there are Catalans, provides this badge with the emblem of Catalonia. At the fighters’ own demand, the first 30,000 badges have already been supplied to our countrymen on the Madrid front. Catalan fighters: when you go to fight, do it in the name of Catalonia; when you go to fight, do it thinking of Catalonia...”

There is another version of the same insignia, in this case with the emblem in the shape of an oval and the legend “Per Catalunya” (“For Catalonia”) below. In both cases, the Catalan nationalist spirit is expressed. Apart from those who went to fight in Madrid, other Catalan units were provided with this badge, for example the 138 Mixed Brigade, created in May 1937 and sent to the Guadalajara front, where it passed most of the war. The badge shown in the picture comes from a campsite this unit established in the outskirts of the village of Canredondo that was operative from the spring of 1938 until the end of the war. These badges gave Catalan soldiers a group identity on fronts that were far from their homes and contributed to reinforcing the idea that they were in fact fighting for their own land. The Basque militias fighting in Madrid used similar badges, in their case with the ikurriña (the Basque flag) and the lauburu (the traditional Basque swastika). The Catalans also used language and music to strengthen group identity. A band directed by Joaquim Soms that played sardanas, a typical Catalan song and dance, was active in Guadalajara. Soms composed a sardana titled “Catalans a l’Alcarria” (“Catalans in the Alcarria”, the region of Guadalajara where they were fighting), which became the anthem for those soldiers. During the Catalonia campaign (January-February 1939) and until the end of the war, the Francoists dropped pamphlets over the lines occupied by Catalan fighters to demoralize them and encourage them to desert, informing them that after Catalonia had been occupied, they had no reason to keep fighting.