Recently, a close friend and I were discussing the peace sign; is it evil, good, satanic, holy…? I did a little research and came up with some pretty interesting facts that I didn’t know before:
History:
The peace sign is remembered to have been designed as a symbol for the British disarmament of nuclear weapons. It was designed by Gerald Holtom, a British artist, on February 21, 1958 for the march planned by the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, by the request of lord Bertrand Russel, head of the campaign. He fiddled with the design a while, and wanted to incorporate the cross into the symbol, and he eventually came up with this:
This also worked well for another reason; it resembled the letters N and D (Nuclear Disarmament) of the semaphore system, the navy code flag signaling system.
So this symbol was created as a logo for nuclear disarmament. However, there are other ways to tell the story…….
Alternative History
While Gerald Holtom is the one who designed the logo for the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, it is said that the symbol first appeared in a tome by Rudolph Koch called The Book of Signs several years before that. Here it is a symbol of death and despair. Supposedly, that was a result of Nero crucifying the Apostle Peter on an upside-down cross. Nero despised Christians, and this symbol, which looked like a broken cross, became a well known pagan insignia of that time. It came to stand for the hatred of all Christians.
Alternate Alternate History
In contrast to the alternate history, a peace sign facing upward like this:
is supposed to mean hope, eternity, and overall positive things. Also, it resembles the semaphore letters U and D of the navy code flag signaling system, which could stand for “Universal Disarmament” (PEACE). And Peter hanging upside down on the cross? This actually looks like a person standing with their hands raised upward toward the sky.
me do you spend daily “glued to the tube”? Probably too much. Television can be fun, interesting, and sometimes even educational; nevertheless, it is very harmful to our minds and bodies.