Onderscheidingsteekenen voor de Koninklijke Landmacht / Distinctives and Badges of Rank for the Royal Netherlands Army 1943

Cor Visser created this instructional print titled "Distinctives and Badges of Rank for the Royal Netherlands Army." The image, filled with insignias, epaulettes, and emblems, provides a glimpse into the hierarchies and structures of the Dutch military, and speaks to a period defined by nation-building and colonial power. As you consider these symbols of rank and affiliation, think about how class, and perhaps gender, are performed within such institutions. Each badge, stripe and color denotes not only rank, but also belonging, or perhaps exclusion. While the artist remains somewhat obscure, his work invites us to contemplate the ways in which identity is constructed and communicated through visual cues, and how such visual language both reflects and reinforces societal hierarchies. Consider how these symbols operate to shape not only military identity, but also the broader social order, and what emotional responses they might evoke in those who wear them, and those who view them.