Peace Sign Turns 50

[Ootpic]

Peace Sign Turns 50
Democracy Now!
Feb 21, 2008

[BOTTOM STORY]


And finally, the peace sign turns fifty years old today. Over the past five decades the peace sign has become one of the world’s enduring icons. The original peace sign was developed in 1958 by a British textile designer and conscientious objector named Gerald Holtom. He created the symbol by combining the semaphore letters N and D, for nuclear disarmament. On Feb. 21, 1958 the symbol was accepted by the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War. The symbol soon began to be used in anti-nuclear protests across Britain and then spread across the globe.

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[Luke's Angel]

Happy Birthday! Such an interesting beginning for a symbol that is ubiquitous now.

 

[Weird Harold]

Happy Birthday! Such an interesting beginning for a symbol that is ubiquitous now.

Ubiquitous, but virtually meaningless aas a result.

On Feb. 21, 1958 the symbol was accepted by the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War. The symbol soon began to be used in anti-nuclear protests across Britain and then spread across the globe.

By the time the Peace Symbol really beacame well-known, the hippies and vietnam war protesters had perverted it's meaning from it's anti-nuclear origins to "the footprint of the all-american chicken" and a utopian pacifist ideology that turned it into a joke.

 

[Boxlicker101]

This is interesting. I knew the peace sign went back quite a way, but not that far. Certain Evangelicals used to say, and maybe still do, that it was a sign of Satanist, and represented a broken cross. I remember seeeing in a comic book they used to put out, some misguided recruit breaking a cross by pulling down on the cross pieces until they broke off cleanly and, for one split second, the broken cross resembled a peace symbol. I thought it was nonsense then, and I still do.

I always thought it was a stylized guided missile. I don't see how they got it from a combination of N and D.

 

[Weird Harold]

I always thought it was a stylized guided missile. I don't see how they got it from a combination of N and D.

It's from the semaphore signals for N and D:

http://mungbean.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/alphabet.jpg

 

[only_more_so]

It's from the semaphore signals for N and D:

http://mungbean.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/alphabet.jpg

Hrmm... So:

3:37, 7:52, 1:37, 7:08, 1:30, 9:15

That's Miller Time.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Ubiquitous, but virtually meaningless aas a result.



By the time the Peace Symbol really beacame well-known, the hippies and vietnam war protesters had perverted it's meaning from it's anti-nuclear origins to "the footprint of the all-american chicken" and a utopian pacifist ideology that turned it into a joke.

No, I'd say that the right-wing hawks did the perversion.

 

[cantdog]

Town across the river, historically a KKK stronghold, banned it in the schools. Anyone displaying it was expelled. Not suspended, expelled. This was 1968.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Why does ubiquitous make it meaningless? The meaning changed a bit, it's true-- it expanded.

Every single peace sign you see tells you the same message. It doesn't matter what color it is or what it's been put on.

Sort of like Xtian crosses.

 

[only_more_so]

Why does ubiquitous make it meaningless? The meaning changed a bit, it's true-- it expanded.

Every single peace sign you see tells you the same message. It doesn't matter what color it is or what it's been put on.

Sort of like Xtian crosses.

Usually it tells me some stoner has been in the neighborhood, is that the message you mean? I'm sure that's not what it means to you, but the culture that has co-opted (pun intended) the symbol doesn't always set a charming example. Growing up, the people I saw with the peace symbols were the stoners and anti-authority/rebel without a clue crowd. So now, when I see the symbol, that's what I think of.

That's the thing about a symbol, it can mean very different things to different people. When people see a symbol they attach their meaning to it, not always the meaning the symbol was intended for.

So in a round about way I'm agreeing. It isn't a meaningless symbol, but it doesn't hold the same meaning for everyone.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Even if it's spray-painted by a stoner, it is still a peace sign.

Does the letter "G" represent some other consonant depending on where it's printed?

 

[only_more_so]

Even if it's spray-painted by a stoner, it is still a peace sign.

Does the letter "G" represent some other consonant depending on where it's printed?

Sorry, I thought we were talking about the CDN symbol for nuclear disarmament.

Gnats might have something to say about consonance. Or ask a german to say a word that starts with "V". Ask a christian what "Xtian" means to them and compare it to your answer. Or ask a hindu what a swastica means.

Symbols have whatever meaning people attach to it.

 

[jomar]

Thanks. I never knew the origin. Or, more likely, I did and forgot during the bong years.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Sorry, I thought we were talking about the CDN symbol for nuclear disarmament.

Gnats might have something to say about consonance. Or ask a german to say a word that starts with "V". Ask a christian what "Xtian" means to them and compare it to your answer. Or ask a hindu what a swastica means.

Symbols have whatever meaning people attach to it.

Smart-arse

 

[only_more_so]

Smart-arse

Thanks.

You're pretty alright yourself.

 

[Ootpic]

... Does the letter "G" represent some other consonant depending on where it's printed?

A "G" when it is framed between a square and a compass indicates either God or Geography to a Mason.

An "A" inside a circle indicates Anarchy.

Symbols are only meaningful to those who understand them.

Due to the variety of differing individuals’ opinions, and the shoddiness of many individuals’ definitions, the wider the audience which understands, the less precise the communication.

 

[NoJo]

The CND marches, starting with the famous Aldermaston march, are part of my family history. I was too young to go on them, but my older brother did, as a 12-y-old. He was surrounded by men with scratchy beards and woolly jumpers, girls with duffle coats and pony-tails. "Cumbya" and "We shall overcome", two of my least favourite songs ever, were the anthems. I have some great photos of them. Also of the Greenham Common demonstrations in the 1980's.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Googled Greenham commons, and found all kinds of interesting stuff!

 

[Trinique_Fire]

So how old's the swastika?

 

[only_more_so]

So how old's the swastika?

according to wikipedia, since neolithic india. It's sanskrit, so really really old.

 

[Trinique_Fire]

according to wikipedia, since neolithic india. It's sanskrit, so really really old.

Yeah I actually kind of asked as a joke, since in some cultures it's seen as a sign of peace.