December 30, 2019 • 5 mins
Though it started as a symbol of nuclear disarmament, the peace sign has grown to apply to (and be applied to) all kinds of things -- but the creator didn't mind; he'd hoped it'd take off. Learn the history of the peace sign in this episode of BrainStuff.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Loring bog obam here. If you have a
can of spray paint and a giant rock face to
paint on, and you need to tell a group of
people half a mile away that you come in peace,
how would you get the message across? You could paint
in all of branch or a origami crane of white
(00:22):
poppy or fingers making a V sign, But there's an
easier way draw circle bisect it with a vertical line
and two lines pointing down at a forty five degree
angle from that line, like two drooping arms, and Wala
message delivered. The peace sign is one of the most
recognized symbols in the modern world, and it's relatively short history.
(00:44):
It's become ubiquitous. It's on pajamas, jewelry, frisbees, in the
floor mats of cars. But it has also been used
as an emblem of a variety of uniquely twentieth century
cultural and political movements, from the hippies to women's rights,
to environmental protection to the end of South africa kind apartheid.
But it was created for a very specific movement, nuclear disarmament.
(01:06):
The peace symbol We Know and Love Today was created
by Gerald Holtum, a British artist and activist who was
a conscientious objector during World War Two. During the late
nineteen fifties, some people in England were concerned about what
they called the Big Bomb, the weapon that had seen
dropped on two Japanese cities during World War Two, effectively
ending the war but killing hundreds of thousands of civilians
(01:26):
in the process. But by night three countries, the United States,
the Soviet Union and England had begun to stockpile nuclear weapons.
The Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, a group of
pacifists and let's face it, people who were concerned about
a future in which one nation state could destroy another
by dropping a handful of bombs, organized a march from
(01:48):
London to a facility where nuclear material was produced fifty
two miles away that's about eighty three kilometers. Holton created
a logo for the event, a circle circumscribing to characters
from the flag semaphore alphabet, which is a type of
optical telegraph that's been used since the nineteenth century. The
two characters are n for nuclear, which has both flags
(02:10):
at the signal ER's side at forty five degree angles
and D for disarmament, which is a straight vertical line
with both flags pointing straight up. Holtem's goal was for
the symbol to be bold, simple, easily reproduced, and easily
recognized even on the grainy black and white television sets
of the day. And because he wanted his work to
do whatever the nfties version of going viral was, he'd
(02:33):
never copyrighted it and hoped it would take off. And
boy did it ever. We spoke with Ken Calls, been
author of Peace the Biography of a Symbol, which was
published in two thousand eight on the fiftieth anniversary of
the symbol. He explained that as the Vietnam War was
beginning in the early nineteen sixties, the symbol was adopted
as an anti war symbol, and because Holtem internationally made
(02:57):
it free for anyone to use, it was passed out
on buttons on college campuses throughout the war and adopted
by the hippie movement as a symbol of nineteen sixties
youth subculture. Colsben said the early anti war people were
not hippies so much as pacifists. Worried about the growing
fatalities in the Vietnam War, it morphed from a symbol
that stood for nuclear disarmament to one that stood for peace.
(03:20):
Gerald Holton died and, according to Colsben, who corresponded with
him during the nineteen seventies, Holton asked that his tombstone
depict the peace symbol he created, only with a twist.
Colsben explained on his tombstone he wanted the symbol inverted.
In other words, instead of drooping arms, he wanted the
arms of his peace symbol to be pointed upward. In
(03:42):
his mind, this symbolized the tree of life. In symbology,
when a symbol points downward, that means someone has died,
so I think later in life he realized he wanted
it to point up like the tree of life where
mankind lives. Unfortunately, Holton's revised peace symbol didn't make it
onto his tombstone, but the first iteration of a work
has certainly made an impression on the world. Of course,
(04:03):
symbols are slippery. There have been plenty of emblems for
one idea or system of thought that have had their
meaning hijacked and changed by a political faction. For instance,
the swastika is an ancient symbol that's been used in
many parts of the world, from Scandinavia to India to
the America's and the meaning is pretty wholesome and virtually
all cases, with the one very notable exception. In various traditions,
(04:26):
it was a symbol for divinity, good fortune, the sun,
well being. In rebirth. To the Buddhists, the swastika symbolized
the footprints of the Buddha. Of course, in the twenties
and thirties it was adopted by Nazi Germany as its
national symbol. As a result, when you see the swastica
these days, it brings up very different feelings than it
did for the thousands of years of human history that
came before it. Calls been said, the p symbol stands
(04:50):
for the rights of many groups of people. It's a
remarkable symbol. We always have to stay alert to political
factions picking up the symbol and changing the meaning. That
would be very unfortunate. M Today's episode was written by
Jesselin Shield and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is
a production of I Heeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For
(05:10):
more in this and lots of other powerful topics is
our home planet, how stuff Works dot Com and for
more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Loring bog obam here. If you have a
can of spray paint and a giant rock face to
paint on, and you need to tell a group of
people half a mile away that you come in peace,
how would you get the message across? You could paint
in all of branch or a origami crane of white
(00:22):
poppy or fingers making a V sign, But there's an
easier way draw circle bisect it with a vertical line
and two lines pointing down at a forty five degree
angle from that line, like two drooping arms, and Wala
message delivered. The peace sign is one of the most
recognized symbols in the modern world, and it's relatively short history.
(00:44):
It's become ubiquitous. It's on pajamas, jewelry, frisbees, in the
floor mats of cars. But it has also been used
as an emblem of a variety of uniquely twentieth century
cultural and political movements, from the hippies to women's rights,
to environmental protection to the end of South africa kind apartheid.
But it was created for a very specific movement, nuclear disarmament.
(01:06):
The peace symbol We Know and Love Today was created
by Gerald Holtum, a British artist and activist who was
a conscientious objector during World War Two. During the late
nineteen fifties, some people in England were concerned about what
they called the Big Bomb, the weapon that had seen
dropped on two Japanese cities during World War Two, effectively
ending the war but killing hundreds of thousands of civilians
(01:26):
in the process. But by night three countries, the United States,
the Soviet Union and England had begun to stockpile nuclear weapons.
The Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, a group of
pacifists and let's face it, people who were concerned about
a future in which one nation state could destroy another
by dropping a handful of bombs, organized a march from
(01:48):
London to a facility where nuclear material was produced fifty
two miles away that's about eighty three kilometers. Holton created
a logo for the event, a circle circumscribing to characters
from the flag semaphore alphabet, which is a type of
optical telegraph that's been used since the nineteenth century. The
two characters are n for nuclear, which has both flags
(02:10):
at the signal ER's side at forty five degree angles
and D for disarmament, which is a straight vertical line
with both flags pointing straight up. Holtem's goal was for
the symbol to be bold, simple, easily reproduced, and easily
recognized even on the grainy black and white television sets
of the day. And because he wanted his work to
do whatever the nfties version of going viral was, he'd
(02:33):
never copyrighted it and hoped it would take off. And
boy did it ever. We spoke with Ken Calls, been
author of Peace the Biography of a Symbol, which was
published in two thousand eight on the fiftieth anniversary of
the symbol. He explained that as the Vietnam War was
beginning in the early nineteen sixties, the symbol was adopted
as an anti war symbol, and because Holtem internationally made
(02:57):
it free for anyone to use, it was passed out
on buttons on college campuses throughout the war and adopted
by the hippie movement as a symbol of nineteen sixties
youth subculture. Colsben said the early anti war people were
not hippies so much as pacifists. Worried about the growing
fatalities in the Vietnam War, it morphed from a symbol
that stood for nuclear disarmament to one that stood for peace.
(03:20):
Gerald Holton died and, according to Colsben, who corresponded with
him during the nineteen seventies, Holton asked that his tombstone
depict the peace symbol he created, only with a twist.
Colsben explained on his tombstone he wanted the symbol inverted.
In other words, instead of drooping arms, he wanted the
arms of his peace symbol to be pointed upward. In
(03:42):
his mind, this symbolized the tree of life. In symbology,
when a symbol points downward, that means someone has died,
so I think later in life he realized he wanted
it to point up like the tree of life where
mankind lives. Unfortunately, Holton's revised peace symbol didn't make it
onto his tombstone, but the first iteration of a work
has certainly made an impression on the world. Of course,
(04:03):
symbols are slippery. There have been plenty of emblems for
one idea or system of thought that have had their
meaning hijacked and changed by a political faction. For instance,
the swastika is an ancient symbol that's been used in
many parts of the world, from Scandinavia to India to
the America's and the meaning is pretty wholesome and virtually
all cases, with the one very notable exception. In various traditions,
(04:26):
it was a symbol for divinity, good fortune, the sun,
well being. In rebirth. To the Buddhists, the swastika symbolized
the footprints of the Buddha. Of course, in the twenties
and thirties it was adopted by Nazi Germany as its
national symbol. As a result, when you see the swastica
these days, it brings up very different feelings than it
did for the thousands of years of human history that
came before it. Calls been said, the p symbol stands
(04:50):
for the rights of many groups of people. It's a
remarkable symbol. We always have to stay alert to political
factions picking up the symbol and changing the meaning. That
would be very unfortunate. M Today's episode was written by
Jesselin Shield and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is
a production of I Heeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For
(05:10):
more in this and lots of other powerful topics is
our home planet, how stuff Works dot Com and for
more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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