“on a rainy easter weekend 50 years ago, a crowd of protesters set off from london on a four-day march for the fledgling cause of nuclear disarmament. a new movement needs a new symbol, so they waved signs bearing a simple logo that has since gone on to become a universal emblem for peace.
the peace symbol is neither the track of a dove nor a chicken, as hawks have sneered. artist gerald holtom based it on the semaphore initials for nuclear disarmament, although he later said that it also represented himself in despair, palms out and down.
purposely never copyrighted, used in everything from vietnam war protests to cigarette ads, the symbol is easy to recognise – and to misdraw.”
~ from the august 2008 issue of national geographic
Recent Comments