The Origin of the Peace Symbol

Under the heading of You Learn Something New Every Day, I just learned what the peace symbol stands for.

And no, I don’t mean that I just found out that the peace symbol stands for peace.

According to designboom.com the peace sign was designed for the British campaign for nuclear disarmament. Members of anti-nuke group wanted to make badges to wear to their first protest.

The peace symbol shape was borrowed from the naval code of semaphore and the code letters “N” and “D” for “nuclear disarmament.” The letter N is two flags, arms down-stretched at a 45-degree angle. The letter D is two flags, one arm straight up and one down.

The peace symbol and I are sisters, in a way, since we both were born in 1958. Also born that year? Alec Baldwin, Ellen Degeneres and Kevin Bacon. We should have a party!

Since I turned 50 last year, I’m wondering if that explains the sudden resurgence of popularity of the peace sign. From earrings and purses to curtain and license plates, peace signs are found in almost every retail store in the United States. If only tinted granny glasses could have the same rebirth . . .

Back to the history lesson: The peace symbol began popping up in the U.S. in civil rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Not surprisingly, the killjoys of the world tried to turn it into something to gripe about. Fundamentalists tried to show that the peace symbol was linked to communism, was a satanic sign, and was actually a drawing of St. Peter being crucified upside down. The South African apartheid regime tried to ban the symbol. Supporters of American soldiers in Viet Nam called the peace symbol “the footprint of the great American chicken” and mocked its use by anti-war protesters.

Few symbols are as widely known and loved. The symbol was deliberately never copyrighted and can be used freely for any purpose. Despite the possibility of exploitation, the free use of the peace symbol is fitting as a symbol of freedom.