Sex Pistols 'Holidays in the Sun' pin badge
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
Late 1970s
This circular button badge is a promotional item featuring artwork for the Sex Pistols' third single, 'Holidays in the Sun'. The printed design shows a comic-strip style illustration of a man and woman against an architectural background, bordered by a yellow margin. A speech bubble above the figures displays the inscription "A CHEAP HOLIDAY / IN OTHER / PEOPLES MISERY". The source imagery was adapted from an illustration originally published in a Belgian tour operator's holiday brochure.
The badge measures 5.5 centimetres in diameter. It is constructed using printed paper and a transparent plastic film cover pressed over a metal pin back. Designed by artist Jamie Reid, the badge was manufactured in London during the late 1970s by the badge-making enterprise Better Badges.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
During the punk and post-punk era between 1976 and 1984, button badges worn on lapels served as a primary medium for displaying musical and political allegiances. Better Badges, operated by Joly McFie, was a key manufacturer of punk buttons, originating from a stall run at a 1976 Ramones concert at the Roundhouse in London. Jamie Reid, whose graphic aesthetic was shaped by radical politics and the Situationist International, used McFie's process cameras to create artwork for Sex Pistols record sleeves, which were subsequently adapted into pin badges.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Printed paper and plastic film pressed on to metal pin back.
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 5.5 cm
Technical characteristics
- Inscriptions
- Date: Text: Research required; Latest: Research required; Earliest: Research required; Note: Research required; Type: Research required; Medium: Research required; Method: Research required; Script: Research required; Content: A CHEAP HOLIDAY / IN OTHER / PEOPLES MISERY; Language: Research required; Position: Research required; Inscriber: Name: Id: Research required; Text: Research required; Association: Id: Research required; Text: Research required; Description: Research required; Translation: Research required; Interpretation: Research required; Transliteration: Research required Date: Text: Research required; Latest: Research required; Earliest: Research required; Note: Research required; Type: Research required; Medium: Research required; Method: Research required; Script: Research required; Content: Research required; Language: Research required; Position: Research required; Inscriber: Name: Id: Research required; Text: Research required; Association: Id: Research required; Text: Research required; Description: Research required; Translation: Research required; Interpretation: Research required; Transliteration:
- Maker recorded
- Reid, Jamie; Better Badges
- Place recorded
- London
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection record for this single object; how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Museum object name
- Jamie Reid archive
- Museum object number
- S.922-1990
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.