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Monday, March 24, 2008

Fifty years of the peace symbol

I didn't realize that the peace symbol came out of the nuclear disarmament movement of the 1950s. I thought it had emerged from the anti-Vietnam protests of the 1960s, but apparently the symbol is 50 years old this year.
Michael Randle was there in 1958 when Holtom explained his idea: matching the 'N' for nuclear & a straight up-and-down 'D' for 'Disarmament,' with a circle around it. "That's the symbol, very simple and straightforward," Randle recalled. "It was that explanation coupled with his vision of what the march would be like, his sketch of what the march would be like, that really sold it to us and we said, 'Right, we will adopt that.'"

Not without controversy. It was inevitable that Holtom's simple three lines and a circle would bewilder at least one of the anti-nuclear campaigners.

"He looked at it and he said, 'What on earth were you three thinking about when you adopted that symbol? It doesn't mean a thing and it will never catch on.' Of course, he was thinking of the traditional things of a broken rifle, or a dove or something that would be immediately associated in people's minds with peace, and if you're looking at it now it's impossible to separate it from all the history that has gone on since."

Impossible, almost, to imagine some history without it.
Perhaps it is hard to imagine some history without it, but it is also hard to imagine the world without those nuclear arms that they were protesting against? Do those protesting against arms in the 1950s have any idea what the alternative in the Cold War would have been without those arms? Perhaps Eastern Europeans who weren't protected by those hated weapons could explain to the protesters what life would have been like if there hadn't been that nuclear deterrent that contained Soviet expansionism in Europe.
Labels: History

posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 6:24 AM

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HOME Betsy neither necessarily uses, nor endorses, the products advertised on this site. Comments from an AP history and government teacher in Raleigh, NC. e-mail betsynewmark AT gmail.com Site Feed Wikio Your Market Research Here		Monday, March 24, 2008 Fifty years of the peace symbol I didn't realize that the peace symbol came out of the nuclear disarmament movement of the 1950s. I thought it had emerged from the anti-Vietnam protests of the 1960s, but apparently the symbol is 50 years old this year. Michael Randle was there in 1958 when Holtom explained his idea: matching the 'N' for nuclear & a straight up-and-down 'D' for 'Disarmament,' with a circle around it. "That's the symbol, very simple and straightforward," Randle recalled. "It was that explanation coupled with his vision of what the march would be like, his sketch of what the march would be like, that really sold it to us and we said, 'Right, we will adopt that.'" Not without controversy. It was inevitable that Holtom's simple three lines and a circle would bewilder at least one of the anti-nuclear campaigners. "He looked at it and he said, 'What on earth were you three thinking about when you adopted that symbol? It doesn't mean a thing and it will never catch on.' Of course, he was thinking of the traditional things of a broken rifle, or a dove or something that would be immediately associated in people's minds with peace, and if you're looking at it now it's impossible to separate it from all the history that has gone on since." Impossible, almost, to imagine some history without it. Perhaps it is hard to imagine some history without it, but it is also hard to imagine the world without those nuclear arms that they were protesting against? Do those protesting against arms in the 1950s have any idea what the alternative in the Cold War would have been without those arms? Perhaps Eastern Europeans who weren't protected by those hated weapons could explain to the protesters what life would have been like if there hadn't been that nuclear deterrent that contained Soviet expansionism in Europe. Labels: History posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 6:24 AM \|

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Fifty years of the peace symbol