Bronze badge for participation in the ski trip of the organization "Lotta Svärd"

Bronze, stamping, patination. The original sign is in excellent condition. Guarantee of authenticity. The badge was established in 1924 and was awarded to women who had passed the ski trials. It was a pentagon made up of five branches of a coniferous tree. In the center of the sign is a circle with the letters "L" and "S". The badge had three grades: gold, silver and bronze. To receive the badge, it was necessary to complete several trips. For example, a gold badge was awarded for seven ski trips. A total of 13,173 gold, 19,786 silver and 44,080 bronze badges were awarded.

Lotta Svjard (fin. and Swedish. Lotta Svärd (svärd=sword) was a women's paramilitary organization in Finland that existed between 1919 and 1944. The name for the organization was chosen after the heroine of Runeberg's "The Tales of Fenrik Stolj", who did not want to stay at home, and followed her husband to the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809. Even after her husband died in battle, she still remained in the army, cooking food for soldiers, washing clothes, and caring for the wounded. Since the members of the newly created organization were supposed to do the same, it was decided to name the organization after the heroine of Runeberg.

A division called the Lotta Svjard Organization was first founded in the city of Riihimaki on November 19, 1918. On August 29, 1919, by a decree on the troops, the commander-in-chief of the Finnish Security Corps, Colonel G. D. von Essen, proposed the creation of a women's unit, marking the beginning of an all-Finnish organization. During the Civil War, Lotta Svjard was a unit of the Security Corps, and since September 9, 1920, it has existed as an independent organization. In 1929, the organization was headed by a teacher at the Sortavala Teachers' Seminary, Fanny Luukkonen, who headed it until the end. A prominent role in the leadership was played by the director of the Lapua school, Member of Parliament Hilja Rijpinen (who often clashed with Luukkonen). During the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, the number of the organization reached 100-150 thousand women. By the end of the 1941-1944 war, 240,000 lott were helping the Finnish army.  Lotta Svjard was dissolved on November 23, 1944, by a decision of the Finnish State Council at the request of the Allied Control Commission in Finland (in accordance with Article 21 of the Armistice Treaty, which provided for the dissolution of military organizations), headed by Soviet representative A. A. Zhdanov. At the time of its abolition, Lotta Svjard had 230,000 employees. In March 2011, the former members of Lotta Svjard celebrated the 90th anniversary of the organization.