Who Designed the Peace Symbol?

The first peace symbol design was conceived by British graphic artist Gerald Holtom as a symbol for nuclear disarmament. The simple intersection of three lines inside a circle has endured as one of the most recognizable icons in the world and has been associated with a number of peace and social justice movements. Many people have speculated on just what the symbol represents; some religious zealots even claim it signifies Christ on the cross with arms broken, or a Teutonic rune representing death and despair. But the truth is not so mysterious.

In 1958 a group of peace activists, clergy, and Quakers in Great Britain were organizing a rally to draw attention to the growing worldwide stockpile of nuclear weapons. The rally, which would eventually draw more than 5,000 people to Trafalgar Square in London, was to be a peaceful walk to the town of Aldermaston, site of an atomic weapons research plant.

Holtom, a commercial artist and textile designer involved in the movement, suggested that the demonstrators carry flags and posters with a simple visual symbol he had created. A graduate of the Royal College of Arts, Holtom presented his design to the Peace News office in London and to the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (one of the founding organizations of what would become the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, or CDC).

A conscientious objector during World War II, Holtom acknowledged two inspirations for his design. He combined the military semaphore (flag) symbols for the letters "N" and "D" to represent Nuclear Disarmament.

The semaphore symbols for the letter "D" and "N" (top) and then combined (bottom) to represent Nuclear Disarmament.

Later, in a letter, Holtom also admitted that the symbol reflected his mood at the time. "I was in despair," he wrote. "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 formalized the drawing into a line and put a circle around it."

Two sketches for the 1958 protest march as drawn by Gerald Holtom, showing the first representations of the peace symbol.