The Peace Symbol

If you were raised in the 60’s or 70’s you may be aware of who created the peace symbol and why. As it was never copyrighted on purpose so it could be used freely, it has become a more universal symbol of peace since its creation, including being adopted by the American civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s. 

Also known as the CND (British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) symbol, British graphic artist Gerald Holtom created the peace symbol in 1958 to represent their protest march from London to Aldermaston (home to an A-bomb research center). The first it was seen was that year on Good Friday in Trafalgar Square on 500 cardboard signs. This would be the first of nine annual marches that began as several thousand people who marched against nuclear weapons for four days (a 52-mile march) to the Atomic Weapons Establishment. Although, in 1959, they reversed the direction of the march, so their campaign was directed at local nuclear bases and, as the march got closer and closer to London, more people joined in march. In 1963, an estimated 100,000 people filled Trafalgar Square, but a faction of the protestors was disorderly. The following year it was only a one-day march, in part because of the trouble the previous year and in part because the march had exhausted the organizers. Nineteen sixty-five saw the last march, until 1972 and 2004 when it was revived on a much smaller scale.

Setting aside the original purpose of the peace symbol, should we ask ourselves why so many of us can’t live in peace? Is it fear that drives prejudices, discord, and hate? Superiority complexes? Our own brokenness blending with another's? Or just plain greed, selfishness, or power-hunger? The peace symbol has been used to support many causes over the past 60 years. To me it is a sign for us all: to live in peace with each other, to take care of each other, to fight for each other, and to love each other. What does it mean to you?

Holtom’s design: The circle represents the earth. The lines inside the circle signify the positions of two semaphore (the system of using arms or flags to send information great distances) letters "N" and "D" for "nuclear disarmament. The "N" is formed by a person holding a flag in each hand and pointing them at a 45-degree angle toward the ground. The "D" is formed by holding one flag straight down and one straight up.

Wikipedia; Thoughtco.