A pretty 1980's pin badge from former Czechoslovakia. The badge face is 1.5cm wide and has a stick pin fastener to the rear. It features the red communist star and crossed hammers logo of the miner's union. The text SHD stands for Severoceske hnedouhelne doly or Northern Czech Lignite Coal Fields.
Historical Background
The region of what is now the Czech Republic has been mined extensively since the middle ages. Silver mines in Kutna Hora and Jihlava began a tradition that extended as new ore discoveries fueled new technologies.
Tin and gold were discovered in the surrounding mountain ranges and iron was extensively mined throughout the region.The industrial revolution opened major coal fields in Ostrava (Eastern Czech) and Kladno (West of Prague) which still operate today.
The communist takeover of 1948 saw Czechoslovakia become a regional industrial power. Coal quotas were recorded and production targets achieved and then celebrated in the communist press. Miners were awarded their own national holiday and the image of the pick axe wielding miner with helmet became a symbol of socialism and was synonymous with the workers of Eastern Europe.
The discovery of Uranium deposits in Jachymov and Pribram assisted in the development of a national nuclear power policy and by the early 1980s mining reached a peak that was soon to turn into a catastrophic decline as metal ores began to be imported and the need for coal fired industry declined rapidly.
Today the coal fields of Ostrava and Kladno still operate producing both brown and black coal which is exported to neighbouring European countries.
