Happy 48th Birthday, PEACE SYMBOL

[no name no slogan]

The peace symbol made its debut on Easter weekend, 1958, in the UK.

From Peace Symbol History:

One of the most widely known symbols in the world, in Britain it is recognised as standing for nuclear disarmament – and in particular as the logo of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). In the United States and much of the rest of the world it is known more broadly as the peace symbol. It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist and a graduate of the Royal College of Arts. He showed his preliminary sketches to a small group of people in the Peace News office in North London and to the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, one of several smaller organisations that came together to set up CND.

The symbol itself is built on the semaphore code letters "N" and "D", which stand for nuclear disarmament. The circle represents the whole world, and as a whole the symbol means global nuclear disarmament.

Since its creation in 1958, it has been adopted by people around the world who fight for peace and justice, and remains a powerful symbol to this day.

[Droopy]

1. It has been my avatar ever since I joined DU

I haven't changed it once. I signed up in March 2003 when the war in Iraq was brewing.

[Wapsie B]

2. I had no idea

it was that old. I remember seeing around the time of 'Nam. Happy Birthday Peace! We need you now more than ever.

[MaggieSwanson]

3. Really cool, no name no slogan!

You should think about cross-posting this in GD. I think a lot of people would be interested to know of the origins of the symbol.

A story from last Tuesday's protest of * here in Iowa:

As my two friends and I were walking back to the parkade after the protest, three Vietnam vets stopped us and asked us if we thought we had done any good that day. We struck up a conversation, and one of the vets traced the large peace symbol on my bag that holds all my protest signs. He asked me if I knew what the symbol was sometimes called. I asked warily if it had anything to do with "footprints" and he smiled and shook his head.

"We called that the 'Freedom Bird'", he said, still tracing the large outline. "See the nose of the plane, and the two wings pointing down? We knew the Freedom Bird would come fly us home. And we knew that the protesters had our backs."

:cry: :hug: :patriot:

[no name no slogan]

5. That's a good idea

I think I will cross post it! :hi:

[Swamp Rat]

4. peace

:)