Souvenir badge from the Bibi-Khanym Mosque

During Soviet times a variety of everyday and souvenir items were produced in Uzbekistan with the aim of popularising historic monuments and attracting visitors. They included, among others, postage stamps and envelopes, badges, textiles and matches.

In 1970, on the initiative of Uzbek historian and philosopher Ibraghim Muminov (1908–1974), Member of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, and with support from the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Sharof Rashidov (1917–1983), it was agreed that celebrations should be organised to mark the 2,500th anniversary of Samarkand, one of Uzbekistan’s most historic cities. As part of the festivities, badges depicting historic and architectural monuments of 14th and 15th-century Samarkand were produced and distributed among tourists and the local population.

The badges came in a range of shapes and sizes and bore relief designs of various buildings, decorative calligraphy and Arabic inscriptions. One badge that stands out is the example selected here. It was made from aluminium and then enamelled (Fig. 1а). The rectangular design features an arch with a geometrical pattern traced within it – a large diamond in the centre linked to two smaller diamonds above and below. This echoes an element of the decoration at the top of the entrance portal of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, one of the finest architectural monuments in the historic city of Samarkand. Beneath the design are the words ‘Bibi-Khanym’ in Cyrillic.

Surprisingly, in the middle of the large diamond is the word ‘Allah’, rendered in Kufic script. It’s possible that whoever designed the badge was not familiar with Kufic script and unknowingly ‘inscribed’ the word ‘Allah’ into Soviet daily life. Alternatively, the artist may have included it deliberately, to express allegiance to their faith. Even if the artists ‘missed’ the Arabic inscription, the committee that approved the design should have noticed it. However, the committee either did not spot it or considered it to be entirely appropriate.

It is certainly surprising that a commemorative badge bearing the Arabic word ‘Allah’ should gain such widespread distribution at a time when the dominant ideology was Soviet communism, which espoused atheism. It seems that whoever issued or approved the badge did not know exactly what was written on it. It is no exaggeration to say that this curious occurrence is truly a paradox.
 
Akmal Ulmasov
Head of the Department of Unique Objects
Institute of Fine Arts, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan,
Doctor of Architecture