Hitting Send

Happy Birthday peace sign! Cool! You’re fifty years old! And look at all you’ve come to symbolize in that time. I think my first memory of you was on the side of a VW bus. But, it has been awhile, so let’s just say that I’ve adored you for a long time! Let’s take a look at how you came into existence, some controversies you’ve stirred and how you became so darn popular.

The symbol was designed on February 21, 1958, by Gerald Holtom, a British textile designer and graduate of the London Royal College of Arts. As a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in Britain, he was asked to create a badge symbolizing the nuclear disarmament for their Easter demonstration planned by DAC from Trafalgar Square, London, to the Atomics Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in England. (Haha, sounds like something I would have enjoyed attending!)

It is said that he originally wanted to use the Christian cross symbol within a circle as the motif for the march. But various priests told him that using a cross in a protest march was not a good idea (Thank God/dess! Can you imagine?!). He knew he wanted something the size and shape of an extra large pizza which would be lightweight, look great on television, and would trumpet the message of nuclear disarmament without the need for cumbersome words. The symbol he ended up using is a combination of the semaphoric signals for the letters “N” and “D” for Nuclear Disarmament. Huh? I know! The flag semaphore system was developed by the military to convey information from great distances. “N” is two flags, arms down stretched at a forty-five degree angle, and “D” is two flags, one arm straight up and one straight down. For those with the mindset, you may have noticed that the symbol is upside down (D over N). That’s because semaphore is military code, so inverting it says “anti-military”.

There are many theories about how the peace sign migrated across the pond. Was it the friend of Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, a Quaker-raised black pacifist who used it in civil rights marches? Was it the appearance on the 1960’s leaflet from the Committee for Non-Violent Action protesting Polaris submarines berthed in Connecticut? How would I know? I wasn’t even born yet! Evidently, those of you around weren’t keeping good track, because there are many more theories. My mom says that you were too stoned, so I guess I understand!

Let’s look at it’s controversial past! Various far-right and fundamentalist (shudder) American groups seriously considered banning it in the 1970’s and spread the idea that it held satanic associations or condemned it as a Communist sign. In South Africa, during the apartheid regime, there was an official effort to ban it. Anti-Vietnam war protestors picked it up and it was called “the footprint of the great American chicken” (suggesting that peace activists were cowards, boo hiss). There have been claims that it has an older, occult or anti-Christian association, and that it’s a symbol of death. One claim is that it’s an upside down crucifix with the arms broken downward, suggesting the way in which Saint Peter was crucified. The inverted crucifix has been known for centuries as the Nero’s Cross, from the Roman reign of the Emperor Nero (54-68 ACE), which in the Middle-Ages was adapted in satanic rituals and thus became known as the symbol for Satanism. Alternately, it has been suggested that it is an inverted Elhaz rune, which would reverse the rune’s meaning from life to death. Gerald Holtom’s explanation and original drawings of the peace sign do not support these claims. Ack!! Busy minds, busy minds, I guess. I’m showing an image so you can picture it, but I in no way condone these ideas. Peace=Peace

What I find really cool is that the peace sign was deliberately never copyrighted. It is known worldwide for peace and non-violence and no one has to pay or seek approval before they use it. As a symbol of freedom, it is free to all. That said, it has been exploited for uses such as commercial, advertising and fashion purposes. But next month the peace sign returns to its roots. On Monday March 24, 2008, Britain’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament hopes to have protestors, carrying peace signs, encircle the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, west of London. Yes, a return 50 years later to it’s original unveiling. Wish I could be there. Go peace sign! You rock!!!