This famous icon is as timely now, in the face of all the current conflicts in our world, as it was on February 21, 1958, when Gerald Holtom first designed it. Back in the 1960's and 70's, the Peace Symbol was an important emblem of the anti-war and counter-culture movements. But before that, it was used by a different group. Originally it was designed and used as Britain's logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), in protest of atomic weapons research. If you look closely at the Peace Symbol, you can see the stylized letters ‘CND’ that create the design. Another secret meaning is also embedded in this motif. Gerald Holtom (who was a conscientious objector in addition to being the Peace Symbol's designer) said: ‘I was in despair, deep despair, I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it’.
The Peace Symbol has intentionally never been copyrighted. No one has to get permission or pay a fee to use it. A symbol of freedom, it's free to everyone. I think this year's half-century anniversary of the Peace Symbol is a significant milestone. I remember seeing the Peace Symbol everywhere when I was a little girl in the early 1970's. I knew what it meant, and I often doodled fancy versions of the Symbol on my school books while listening to the teacher. Now, nearly 40 years later, my son's mates send emails and packages to their moms, dads, and other family members away at war in Iraq. For 2008, one of my personal wishes is peace and love on Earth. Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.
