The symbol now known internationally as the "peace symbol" or "peace sign", or alternatively as the nuclear disarmament symbol, or the CND symbol (
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament)
[50] originates as a symbol representing the threat of nuclear annihilation used in British
anti-nuclear activism from 1958. It was widely adopted in the American
anti-war movement in the 1960s and was re-interpreted as generically representing
world peace. It was still used, however, in its original anti-nuclear context by activists
opposing nuclear power, in the 1980s.
Origin[edit]
The symbol was designed by
Gerald Holtom (1914–1985) for the British nuclear disarmament movement. Holtom, an artist and designer, presented it to the
Direct Action Committee on 21 February 1958 where it was "immediately accepted" as a symbol for a march from
Trafalgar Square, London, to the
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at
Aldermaston in Berkshire on 4 April.
[51][50][52][53] Holtom's design was adapted by Eric Austen (1922–1999) to ceramic lapel badges.
[54][55][56] The original design is in the
Peace Museum in
Bradford, England.
[54]
The symbol is a super-imposition of the
flag semaphore for the characters "N" and "D", taken to stand for "nuclear disarmament".
[2] This observation was made as early as 5 April 1958 in the
Manchester Guardian.
[57][58] In addition to this primary genesis, Holtom additionally cited as inspiration
Francisco Goya's painting
The Third of May 1808 (1814):
Although in the painting, the peasant shown has his arms stretched upwards, not downwards.
Ken Kolsbun, a correspondent of Holtom's, 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.
[60] Eric Austen is said to have "discovered that the 'gesture of despair' motif had long been associated with 'the death of man', and the circle with 'the unborn child'".
[54]
The symbol became the badge of CND, and wearing it became a sign of support for the campaign urging British unilateral
nuclear disarmament. An account of CND's early history described the image as "a visual adhesive to bind the [Aldermaston]
March and later the whole Campaign together ... probably the most powerful, memorable and adaptable image ever designed for a secular cause".
[54]
