peace symbols. the origins and the ideas behind the symbols ...........................................................................................................................................................................
	peace symbols the origin and the ideas behind the symbols --- 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 http://www.cnduk.org --- DOVES OF PEACE one of the most recognised symbols of peace is the dove. its origins are from the story of noah and the ark. when the rains that flooded the earth stopped pouring down, noah sent out various birds to see if they would bring back any sign of land to his boat. he was anxious to begin life again on dry pasturage. one dove eventually returned carrying an olive branch. after world war II pablo picasso, was responsible for the decisive use of the dove of peace : his lithograph designed for the international peace congress in paris, 1949, features the white ancestor of a new family of doves. since then, graphic artists have produced an endless series of doves of peace in different shapes. --- THE PEACE CRANE within asia the white crane is the bird of peace. originally it was the sort of peace that comes with prosperity and friendship, such that war is not even considered. the crane took on even greater significance as a peace symbol within japan right after the bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. in 1955 an eleven year old japanese girl named sadako sasaki was diagnosed with leukemia from exposure to nuclear radiation. she heard that if she folded a thousand paper cranes, she would be granted a wish. so she began folding one crane after another, wishing for a well body within a world of peace. sadly, she died within the year, but her story went out to the people of the world. an organisation has been founded in memory of sadako whose purpose is to unite children in the effort for peace - ‘the world peace project for children’. http://www.sadako.org --- THE HAND-GESTURE PEACE SIGN is thought to have begun in europe during world war II when a V for victory - and not to be confused with the catholic gesture of benediction - was painted on walls as a symbol of freedom from occupying forces. the sign was widely used by peace movements in the 1960s and 1970s as a symbol of victory for peace and truth. --- THE RAINBOW FLAG in basel, switzerland, at the international co-operative congress of world co-op, ICA leaders made plans for the very first international ‘co-operators' day’ in essen, germany which was held in july 1923. they wanted to identify and define the growing co-operative movement's common values and ideals to help unite co-ops around the world by developing an international co-op symbol to celebrate the movement's ideas of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality, and world peace. it is said that the meaning of the 7 colors of the rainbow flag is: RED stands for courage. ORANGE offers the vision of possibilities. YELLOW represents the challenge that GREEN has kindled. GREEN represents growth, a challenge to co-operators to strive for growth of membership and of understanding of the aims and values of co-operation. SKY BLUE suggests far horizons, the need to provide education and help to unfortunate people and to strive towards global unity. DARK BLUE suggests pessimism, reminding us of less fortunate people in the world who are in need of the benefits from co-operation. VIOLET is the color of warmth, beauty and friendship. http://www.coop.org in the 1980ies, the san francisco artist, gilbert baker, designed such a flag as a symbol for gay pride. the internationally recognised banner is usually flown during gay and lesbian marches and is displayed outside gay-friendly bars and clubs, most commonly with the red stripe on top, as the colors appear in a natural rainbow. --- see the designers for peace project anti-nuclear emblem, aka peace symbol the first badges were made by eric austin of kensington CND, using white clay with the symbol painted black. again there was a conscious symbolism. they were distributed with a note explaining that in the event of a nuclear war, these fired pottery badges would be among the few human artifacts to survive the nuclear inferno. the letters N and D of the navy code of semaphore, the flag signalling system. there have been claims that the symbol has older, occult or anti-christian associations and that it was a ‘symbol of death’. this fifth century illustration depicts st.peter crucified upside-down. the inverted crucifix was known for centuries as the‘nero cross’ from the roman reign of the emperor nero (54-68 A.D.) in the middle ages the ‘nero cross’ was adapted in satanists rituals. it can also be seen as composed of a tyr rune, or by the rune, turned upside down (in german ‘todesrune’/ the rune of death.) manifesto by pablo picasso, 1949 origami crane victory sign the 19th century illustration of maurice bessey’s ‘pictorial history of magic and the supernatural’ depicts the benediction gesture with a shadow of which represents satan. this rainbow flag originated in italy and is emblazoned in bold with the italian word PACE, meaning ‘peace’. it became popular with the ‘pace da tutti i balconi’ / peace from every balcony campaign in 2002, started as a protest against the impending war in iraq. ‘peace from every balcony’ is an effort to get people to show their opposition to war in general and specifically italian partecipation in the US military campaign against iraq. http://www.bandieredipace.org --- ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? -------