Everything about Peace Symbol totally explained
A
peace symbol (☮) is a representation or object that has come to symbolize
peace. Several different symbols have been used throughout history, of which the
dove,
olive branch and the
nuclear disarmament symbol are perhaps the best known.
Dove and olive branch
In
Judaism and
Christianity, a white
dove is generally a sign for
peace. The
Torah describes a story in which a dove was released by
Noah after the
Great Flood in order to find land. The dove came back carrying an
olive branch in its beak, telling Noah that the Great Flood had receded and there was land once again for Man. (
Genesis 8:11).
The motif can also represent "hope for peace" and even a peace offering from one man to another, as in the phrase "extend an olive branch". Often, the dove is represented as still in flight to remind the viewer of its role as messenger.
Broken Rifle
The broken rifle is a symbol widely identified with
War Resisters' International and its affiliates, but actually it predates the foundation of WRI (in 1921). The first known example was the masthead of
De Wapens Neder (Down with Weapons), the monthly of the International Antimilitarist Union in the Netherlands. The symbol spread, and in 1925
Ernst Friedrich, the founder of the
Anti-Kriegs Museum in Berlin began using the symbol for badges, brooches, belt buckles and tiepins.
Shalom and Salaam
The
Hebrew word "
Shalom" (Hebrew: ), and the
Arabic "
Salaam" (Arabic: ) have been used as peace symbols. Shalom and Salaam literally mean "peace" and are
cognates of each other, derived from the
Semitic Triconsonantal of
Ś-L-M (realized in Hebrew as
Š-L-M and in Arabic as
S-L-M). They have come to represent "
Mideast peace" and an end to the
Arab-Israeli conflict. Wall plaques and signs are sold with both the words and are featured in such such as "
Salaam (Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu)."
Peace flag
In recent years, especially in connection with the
2003 Invasion of Iraq, there has been a surge in popularity of the Peace flag, a series of seven
rainbow colors (red on bottom) with the word
PACE (
Peace in
Italian and
Romanian, derived from the
Latin word
pax, pronounced
pah-chay) boldly printed across the middle. The more recent usage originated in
Italy. In most of the world, however, the rainbow flag (red on top) is most often connected with
gay pride. The usage of the rainbow can either be tracked back to pacific coexistence of different people, or to the rainbow that God showed
Noah at the end of the
worldwide flood as recorded in the Bible, as a token of the covenant that He made between Himself and mankind, that He wouldn't again destroy the entire world with a flood (Genesis 9)
(External Link
). The flag in its current shape appeared as early as
September 24 1961, in an Italian peace march. It had previously featured a dove drawn by
Pablo Picasso.
(External Link)
The flag is often flown from balconies in Italy by citizens opposed to the Iraq war. Its use has spread to other countries as well, with the Italian "pace" replaced with its translation in various other languages.
According to
Amnesty International, producer Franco Belsito had produced only about 1,000 flags annually for 18 years, and suddenly had to cope with a demand in the range of millions.
V-sign
The "V-sign", also called the "peace sign" and the "victory sign," is a
hand gesture with the index and middle fingers open and all others closed, facing the viewer. Originally strictly a sign for victory, it developed into a peace sign during protests against the
Vietnam War (and subsequent anti-war protests) and by the
counterculture as a sign of peace. Because the
hippies of the day often flashed this sign (palm out) while vocalizing "Peace", it became popularly known through association as the peace sign. Originally, however, its symbolic meaning was
love; signing "love" and saying "peace" was a hippie anthem and mutual greeting.
John Lennon and his wife
Yoko Ono later made "Peace and love" an ongoing theme in their relationship and public personae, even conducting a public "bed-in" (a parallel construction to a favorite hippie theme event during the 60s and early 70s, the "
love-in") in
Queen Elizabeth Hotel in
Montreal,
Canada, where they refused to leave their hotel bed.
The peace symbol
This forked symbol was designed for the
Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC) and was adopted as its badge by the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in Britain, and originally was used by the British nuclear disarmament movement. It was later generalised to become an international icon for the 1960s
anti-war movement, and was also adopted by the
counterculture of the time. It was designed and completed
February 21 1958 by
Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist in
Britain for the
April 4 march planned by DAC from Trafalgar Square, London to the
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at
Aldermaston in
England.
The symbol itself is a combination of the
semaphoric signals for the letters "N" and "D," standing for
Nuclear
Disarmament. In semaphore the letter "N" is formed by a person holding two flags in an upside-down "V," and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. These two signals imposed over each other form the shape of the peace symbol. However, Holtom, a conscientious objector during the Second World War, subverted this use of semaphores by placing the D over the N, the “upside down logo” signifying his anti-military principles. In the first official CND version (
preceded by a ceramic pin version that had straight lines, but was short lived) the lines widened at the edge of the circle which was white on black.
Holtom later wrote to
Hugh Brock, editor of
Peace News, explaining the genesis of his idea in greater depth: "I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of
Goya’s
peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it." in
Bradford, England, where a replica is on public display.
Antagonism
The fact that the symbol resembles a bird foot in a circle gave rise to spurious alternative interpretations, ranging from plain mockery of "
crow's foot" or "The footprint of the American Chicken" (suggesting that peace activists were cowards) to a number of
occult meanings, such as an upside down crucifix with the arms broken downward, suggesting the way that
St. Peter was martyred (see
Cross of St. Peter). Others have claimed that the symbol resembles a medieval sign known as "
Nero's Cross" that represents Satanism. Alternatively, some have suggested that the symbol is an inverted
Elhaz rune, which would reverse the rune's meaning, according to the critics, from 'life' to 'death' (although the Elhaz rune is thought to mean
elk). As well, a commonly repeated conjecture during the 1960s was that it was an
antichrist symbol: a representation Jesus on the cross upside-down or the broken cross of Christianity.. Gerald Holtom's explanation of the genesis of the symbol and his first drawings of it, however, don't support those interpretations.
Ken Kolsbum, a correspondent of Mr. Holtum, says that the designer came to regret the symbolism of despair, as he felt that peace was something to be celebrated and wanted the symbol to be inverted.
The peace symbol was also believed by some to represent a swept-wing bomber, the type that would be used to deliver a nuclear weapon.
Ironically, a nearly identical symbol was used by the
Nazi German 3rd Panzer Division during
World War II.
White Poppy
The
White Poppy was first developed in 1933 by the
Women's Co-operative Guild as an alternative to the Red Poppies used to commemorate British military dead. The newly-formed
Peace Pledge Union (PPU) joined in distributing them in 1934, and white poppy wreaths were laid "as a pledge to peace that war must not happen again. In 1980, the PPU revived the symbol as a form of remembering the victims of war without glorifying militarism. In 1986 UK Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher expressed her "deep distaste" for the symbol.
Other peace symbols
Some unique items have come to symbolize peace. For example, the
Japanese Peace Bell was a gift from the UN Association of Japan to the
United Nations, presented to them in 1954. The bell remains at UN headquarters and is struck yearly, in remembrance for peace.
The
Pax Cultura symbol, created by Nicholas Roerich has also been used as a peace symbol.
Guernica, a painting by
Pablo Picasso, has also been associated with pacifism. Although it wasn't conceived by the author as a representation of war's horrors, its depiction of the
Nazi bombing of
Guernica is now considered an iconic anti-war statement.
Further Information
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