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Origin of the peace sign

The peace sign is in fact the official logo of the British Organisation CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). (www.cnduk.org)

The peace sign was designed for the first “Ban the Bomb”-march in 1958

CND is a political pressure group that advocates zealously and without violence for a world without atom bombs and weapons of mass destruction. The organization was founded in February 1958 during a protest march against the phenomenal running-match of nuclear arms between the United Stated and Russia and the nuclear defense plans of the British Government at that time.

Chaired by the well known philosopher and pacifist Bertrand Russell, the CND organized several months later, during the Eater weekend, the first major “Ban the Bomb”-march : more than 10.000 peace activists marched from London to the village of Aldermaston, where British nuclear weapons were manufactured. In a few years time the protest grew into a mass manifestation with more than 100.000 participants. It is during that first protest march that the peace sign was spotted for the first time upon a 500-many protest signs.

One of the first sketches of the peace sign

Designer Gerald Holtom was closely involved in the preparations of the March. He was responsible for all signs and banners. He found that the movement needed a symbol to reinforce the message of peace: "I drew myself - as a desperate individual - the hand palms facing out and stretched downwards, in the manner of Goya's farmer before the firing squad. I reduced the drawing to lines and put a circle around it. First it seemed ridiculous, such a little thing... "

According to Bertrand Russell - and the sketch above underlines that point of view - Gerald Holtom got his inspiration from the international semaphores- alphabet. The peace sign would have been created by combining the flag signal for the letter N (Nuclear) with that of the letter D (Disarmament).

The peace sign combines the flag signal for the letter N with that of the letter D

A certain Bayard Rustin was also present during the protest march. He was a close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King. He took the peace sign with him to the United States where it appeared shortly after during the protest marches of the movement for Civil Rights. The international rise of the peace sign had started !

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