In Mexico, badges were a central ornament of a nun’s habit, especially on her day of profession. The most common themes are the Immaculate Conception and the Annunciation; the perimeter is typically crowded with a choir of saints, which includes the most important devotions for the order and cults of particular interest to the owner. Worn close to the body, badges often carried political messages and were painted by the best artists of the day.

In this badge, Saint John of Nepomuck appears holding the attribute of his tongue; he appears standing at the feet of the Virgin alongside the founders of other important orders in New Spain: Saint Francis (carrying the Virgin), Saint Augustine (offering a flaming heart), Saint Philip Neri (next to a book and biretta), and Saint Ignatius of Loyola (holding a book inscribed “Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam” [For the greater glory of God], the Latin motto of the Society of Jesus). The badge is conceived as a veritable sacra conversazione (sacred conversation) among the orders, symbolizing their support of the Jesuits at the dawn of their expulsion (1767).