Make a suffrage rosette
You’ll need
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Glue
- Coloured paper or card
- Safety pin
- Felt tips
- Pencil
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
At the start of the 1800s in Britain, women couldn’t vote, had very few rights, and little access to education or jobs. By the end of the 1800s, more people wanted women to vote. Two big groups worked on this: the Suffragists and the Suffragettes. The Suffragists, led by Millicent Fawcett, believed in peaceful protests. They gave speeches, wrote letters, made posters and signed petitions to convince people to let women vote. However, by 1903, some women felt peaceful methods weren’t working. That’s when Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters started the Suffragettes. Their slogan was ‘Deeds, not words,’ and they used more daring actions, such as:
- Chaining themselves to Buckingham Palace gates.
- Breaking shop windows.
- Setting fire to buildings and churches.
The government punished these women with arrests and banned them from political meetings. But in the end, their hard work paid off. In 1918, after many years of fighting, women over 30 gained the right to vote. And in 1928, women finally won the right to vote on equal terms with men.
The Suffragettes were encouraged to always wear rosettes and badges. The Votes for Women newspaper declared 'Wear the colours as a duty and a privilege. Never be seen without your badge'. The rosettes were white, purple and green. White was often associated with purity, green with hope and purple with royalty. To this day, green and purple are still seen during suffragette celebrations.
Running this activity
- Gather everyone together and ask them if they have heard of the Suffragettes. Tell everyone that they’re going to make a Suffragette Rosette.
- Give everyone a copy of the Make a Suffrage Rosette sheets.
- Everyone needs to carefully cut out the all the pieces.
- Fold all the paper strips in half lengthways. Make sure they’re loosely folded to look like the edges of a rosette.
- Place the open ends of the green strip behind the bigger circle and stick them down with tape. Make sure they’re evenly spaced around the circle, leaving a gap between each strip.
- Next, stick the purple strips to the front of the circle in between the green strips.
- Place the white strips onto the centre of the circle on top of the green and purple strips, then stick them down.
- Stick the small circle on to the middle of the rosette in centre of the white strips.
- Decorate the small circle with ‘Votes for Women’. You could write the words or draw a picture. You could also add a fact about the Suffragettes or Emmeline Pankhurst.
- Turn the rosette over and stick three, long purple, green and white strips onto the back of the rosette, in the middle of the circle. They make the tails of your rosette and should be stuck downwards, so the strips point towards the floor.
- Finally, you could make a handle for your rosette using a strip of paper. You could also carefully tape a safety pin to the back of the rosette and wear it.
Reflection
This activity was all about the Suffragettes and women’s rights. We learned about the brave women who fought for the right to vote, the Suffragists and Suffragettes. Can anyone remember a famous Suffragette? Both groups worked hard, using both peaceful protests and bold actions to show that women deserved to have a say in how the country was run. Why do you think the Suffragettes used bold actions like chaining themselves to gates and breaking windows? Even though they faced punishments, they never gave up, and because of their efforts, women finally won the right to vote in 1918 and then on equal terms with men in 1928. How do you think it felt to be a Suffragette who was arrested for their actions?
We also learned about the special colours the Suffragettes used: white, purple, and green. What do these colours represent, and why do you think they were chosen? By making our own Suffragette rosettes today, we got to understand a little more about what it was like to be part of the movement. We worked carefully to create the rosettes, just like the Suffragettes wore to show they were part of something important. These rosettes remind us how important it is to stand up for what’s right and fight for everyone to have equal rights. Why’s it important for everyone to have the right to vote? Do you think the Suffragettes would have won the right to vote without their hard work and bravery? Why or why not?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Scissors
Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
- Sharp objects
Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
- Glue and solvents
Always supervise young people appropriately when they’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.
To make this activity easier, you could cut out the paper strips and circles before the activity.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
