Peace Sign Turns 50
It started as a rallying image for the British anti-nuclear movement in the late '50s and went on to become one of the world's most instantly recognizable -- and widely adopted -- symbols. But did you know that the iconic peace sign was originally derived from the semaphore alphabet?
It started as a rallying image for the British anti-nuclear movement in the late ’50s and went on to become one of the world’s most instantly recognizable — and widely adopted — symbols. But did you know that the iconic peace sign was originally derived from the semaphore alphabet?
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Gerald Holtom, a designer and former World War II conscientious objector from West London, persuaded DAC [Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War] that their aims would have greater impact if they were conveyed in a visual image. The “Ban the Bomb” symbol was born.
He considered using a Christian cross motif but, instead, settled on using letters from the semaphore — or flag-signalling — alphabet, super-imposing N (uclear) on D (isarmament) and placing them within a circle symbolising Earth.
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The Rev. Daniel Berrigan, whose funeral was held Friday in New York, exemplified the radical call of the Christian Gospels to defy the laws of the state for the laws of God. If we seek salvation, for our nation and for ourselves, we must find his courage and his faith.
Daniel J. Berrigan lived his life true to his calling, literally practicing what he preached.
He was a man of the cloth and a man of letters, but most of all, Berrigan was a man of peace. He was also, as it happened, the man whom Kurt Vonnegut went so far as to call "Jesus as a poet."
For the past 22 years, the city of Santa Monica has had one of the most significant public political artworks in the nation, installed adjacent to the Santa Monica Civic Center in the tourism hub of this beachside town.For the past 22 years, the city of Santa Monica has had one of the most significant public political artworks in the nation.
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