In badging, refers to representations that share information about a badge belonging to one earner. Assertions are packaged for transmission as JSON objects with a set of mandatory and optional properties. The assertion typically includes information about who earned the badge, what the badge represents, and who issued the badge. The assertion for a badge includes data items required by the Open Badges Specification: unique ID, recipient, badge URL, verification data, issue date. Optional data items include a badge image with assertion data baked into it, evidence URL, expire date, and stored location in a hosted file or JSON Web signature.