البـــــوابـــة
THE PEACE SYMBOL
the anti-nuclear emblem or the peace sign is one of the
most widely known symbols in the world.
it was invented on the request of lord bertrand russel,
head of the british ‘campaign for nuclear disarmament’
or CDN and sponsor of mass marches and sit-downs
in london. the graphic symbol was designed by
gerald holtom, a member of the CND movement,
as the badge of the ’direct action committee against
nuclear war’, for the first demonstration against
aldermaston (a british research center for the development
of nuclear weapons) in 1958. holtom, a professional designer
and a graduate of the london royal college of arts, had
originally considered using the christian cross symbol
within a circle as the motif for the march, but various priests
he had approached with the suggestion were not happy
at the idea of using the cross on a protest march.
from a design point of view, it is interesting to note that
the original sketches are preserved at the school of
peace studies, at the bradford university.
they show a symbol that stood for ‘the death of man
and the unborn child’ and that symbol was designed
from the naval code of semaphore - the code letters
for N and D (nuclear disarmament).
N is two flags, arms downstretched at a forty-five degree
angle, and D is two flags, one arm straight up and one
straight down. the ends of the ‘arms’ and ‘legs’ thicken
and splay out noticeably as they approach the circumference.
the circle itself was thick - the thickening itself has two versions:
in one, all the straight strokes are thickened;
in the other, only those in the lower half of the circle.
it is said, that the reason for the symbol being upside
down (D over N) is that semaphore is a military code and
upside down symbolizes ‘anti-military’.
the symbol was quickly adopted in the US when a friend of
martin luther king jr., bayard rustin began using it during
civil rights marches. the power of this symbol is emphasized
by the fact that various far-right and fundamentalist american
groups, during the 1970s, seriously considered forbidding it
(they have spread the idea of satanic associations and
condemned it as a communist sign). in south africa, under the
apartheid regime, there was an official attempt to ban it.
also anti-vietnam war protesters picked it up, and it was called
’the footprint of the great american chicken’ by many american
soldiers during the vietnam war era.
deliberately never copyrighted, the symbol is still recognized
in great britain as the logo for nuclear disarmament,
but is known worldwide for peace and non-violence.
no one has to pay or to seek permission before they use it.
as a symbol of freedom, it is free for all.
this of course sometimes leads to its use,
or misuse, in circumstances that CND and the peace
movement find distasteful. it is also often exploited for
commercial, advertising or generally fashion purposes.
‘we can’t stop this happening and have no intention of
copyrighting it. all we can do is to ask commercial users if they
would like to make a donation. any money received is used for
CND’s peace education and information work.’
says the campaign for nuclear disarmament website
the anti-nuclear emblem or the peace sign is one of the
most widely known symbols in the world.
it was invented on the request of lord bertrand russel,
head of the british ‘campaign for nuclear disarmament’
or CDN and sponsor of mass marches and sit-downs
in london. the graphic symbol was designed by
gerald holtom, a member of the CND movement,
as the badge of the ’direct action committee against
nuclear war’, for the first demonstration against
aldermaston (a british research center for the development
of nuclear weapons) in 1958. holtom, a professional designer
and a graduate of the london royal college of arts, had
originally considered using the christian cross symbol
within a circle as the motif for the march, but various priests
he had approached with the suggestion were not happy
at the idea of using the cross on a protest march.
from a design point of view, it is interesting to note that
the original sketches are preserved at the school of
peace studies, at the bradford university.
they show a symbol that stood for ‘the death of man
and the unborn child’ and that symbol was designed
from the naval code of semaphore - the code letters
for N and D (nuclear disarmament).
N is two flags, arms downstretched at a forty-five degree
angle, and D is two flags, one arm straight up and one
straight down. the ends of the ‘arms’ and ‘legs’ thicken
and splay out noticeably as they approach the circumference.
the circle itself was thick - the thickening itself has two versions:
in one, all the straight strokes are thickened;
in the other, only those in the lower half of the circle.
it is said, that the reason for the symbol being upside
down (D over N) is that semaphore is a military code and
upside down symbolizes ‘anti-military’.
the symbol was quickly adopted in the US when a friend of
martin luther king jr., bayard rustin began using it during
civil rights marches. the power of this symbol is emphasized
by the fact that various far-right and fundamentalist american
groups, during the 1970s, seriously considered forbidding it
(they have spread the idea of satanic associations and
condemned it as a communist sign). in south africa, under the
apartheid regime, there was an official attempt to ban it.
also anti-vietnam war protesters picked it up, and it was called
’the footprint of the great american chicken’ by many american
soldiers during the vietnam war era.
deliberately never copyrighted, the symbol is still recognized
in great britain as the logo for nuclear disarmament,
but is known worldwide for peace and non-violence.
no one has to pay or to seek permission before they use it.
as a symbol of freedom, it is free for all.
this of course sometimes leads to its use,
or misuse, in circumstances that CND and the peace
movement find distasteful. it is also often exploited for
commercial, advertising or generally fashion purposes.
‘we can’t stop this happening and have no intention of
copyrighting it. all we can do is to ask commercial users if they
would like to make a donation. any money received is used for
CND’s peace education and information work.’
says the campaign for nuclear disarmament website
