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lets see the peace sighn is an upsidedowncross with an x through it made after Jesus Died to make fun of him
{{redirect|Peace sign|the hand gesture called the "peace sign"|V sign}}
A '''peace symbol''' is a representation or object that has come to symbolize [[peace]]. Several different symbols have been used throughout history, of which the [[dove]], [[olive branch]], and the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] symbol ([[Peace symbols#The peace symbol|the peace symbol]]) are perhaps the best known.

==Dove and olive branch==
[[Image:Peace dove.svg|left|thumb|120px|A white [[dove]] with an [[olive branch]]]]
In [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]] a white [[dove]] is generally a sign for [[peace]]. The [[Torah]], The [[Old Testament]] and The [[Qur'an]] describe a story in which a dove was released by [[Noah]] after the [[Great Flood (Biblical)|Great Flood]] in order to find land. The dove came back carrying an [[olive branch]] in its beak, telling Noah that the Great Flood had receded and there was land once again for Man. ([[Genesis]] 8:11).

The motif can also represent "hope for peace" and even a peace offering from one man to another, as in the phrase "extend an olive branch". Often, the dove is represented as still in flight to remind the viewer of its role as messenger.

In Christian [[iconography]], the dove especially represents the [[Holy Spirit]], which is the third person of the [[Holy Trinity]].

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== Impersonations ==
In Greek and Roman mythology, [[Eirene (Greek goddess)|Eirene or Irene]], [[Pax (mythology)|Pax]] and [[Tranquillitas]] were goddesses and personifications of tranquility, security, calmness, peace.

==Broken Rifle ==
[[Image:Broken rifle.svg|right|thumb|175px|The broken rifle symbol]]The broken [[rifle]] is a symbol widely identified with [[War Resisters' International]] and its affiliates, but actually it predates the foundation of WRI (in 1921). The first known example was the masthead of ''De Wapens Neder'' (Down with Weapons), the monthly of the International Antimilitarist Union in the Netherlands. The symbol spread, and in 1925 [[Ernst Friedrich]], the founder of the [[Anti-Kriegs Museum]] in Berlin began using the symbol for badges, brooches, belt buckles and tiepins.<ref>Bill Hetherington, "Symbols of Peace", Housmans Peace Diary 2007</ref><ref>Other examples of the broken rifle symbol can be found at [http://wri-irg.org/desktop/resources.htm].</ref> The symbol was also utilized by the band [[Crass]], who included it in much of their artwork. This concept was in turn used by the band [[Anti-Flag]] in their "Gunstar" logo.

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== Shalom and Salaam==
{{main|Shalom|Salaam}}
[[Image:ShalomSalamPeaceIsraelisPalestinians.png|left||thumb|170px|'''<font color="#0000CC">"Shalom" (in blue</font>''') and '''<font color="#008000">"Salaam" (in green</font>''') mean "peace" in Hebrew and Arabic respectively.]]

The [[Hebrew]] word "[[Shalom]]" (Hebrew: {{hebrew|שָׁלוֹם}}), and the [[Arabic]] "[[Salaam]]" (Arabic: {{rtl-lang|ar|سلام}}) have been used as peace symbols. Shalom and Salaam literally mean "peace" and are [[cognate]]s of each other, derived from the [[Semitic]] [[Triconsonantal]] of ''Ś-L-M'' (realized in Hebrew as [[Š-L-M]] and in Arabic as [[S-L-M]]). They have come to represent "[[Mideast]] peace" and an end to the [[Arab-Israeli conflict]]. Wall plaques and signs are sold with both the words and are featured in such [[:Category:Israeli songs about Peace|Israeli peace songs]] such as "[[Salaam (song)|Salaam (Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu)]]."

{{clear}}

== Pace flag ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Rainbow flag]] -->
{{main|Peace rainbow flag}}
[[Image:PACE-flag.svg|thumb|right|The peace rainbow flag.]]

In recent years, especially in connection with the [[2003 Invasion of Iraq]], there has been a surge in popularity of the Peace flag{{Fact|date=November 2008}}, a series of seven [[rainbow]] colors (red on bottom) with the word '''PACE''' (''Peace'' in [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Esperanto]] and [[Romanian Language|Romanian]], derived from the [[Latin]] word ''pax'', pronounced ''pah-chay'') boldly printed across the middle. The more recent usage originated in [[Italy]]. In most of the world, however, the rainbow flag (red on top) is most often connected with [[gay pride]]. The usage of the rainbow can either be tracked back to pacific coexistence of different people, or to the rainbow that God showed [[Noah]] at the end of the [[Noah's Ark|Biblical flood]], as a token of the covenant that He made between Himself and mankind, that He would not again destroy the entire world with a flood (Genesis 9)[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%209%20;&version=9;]. The flag in its current shape appeared as early as [[September 24]] [[1961]], in an Italian peace march. It had previously featured a dove drawn by [[Pablo Picasso]]. [http://www.elettrosmog.com/bandieradellapace.htm]
The flag is often flown from balconies in Italy by citizens opposed to the Iraq war. Its use has spread to other countries as well, with the Italian "pace" replaced with its translation in various other languages.

According to [[Amnesty International]], producer Franco Belsito had produced only about 1,000 flags annually for 18 years, and suddenly had to cope with a demand in the range of millions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amnesty.no/web.nsf/pages/494DD08999FC10CEC1256D3D00328635 |title=Det nytter! |accessdate=2008-03-22 |date=2003-06-06 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |language=Norwegian }}</ref>

==V-sign==
{{main|V-sign}}
[[Image:In money we lust.jpg|thumb|right|A 2003, [[Los Angeles]] [[anti-war]] protester flashing the [[V-sign|peace sign]].]]
The "V-sign", also called the "peace sign" and the "victory sign," is a [[hand gesture]] with the index and middle fingers open and all others closed, facing the viewer. Originally strictly a sign for victory, it developed into a peace sign during protests against the [[Vietnam War]] (and subsequent anti-war protests) and by the [[counterculture]] as a sign of peace. Because the [[hippies]] of the day often flashed this sign (palm out) while vocalizing "Peace", it became popularly known through association as the peace sign. Originally, however, its symbolic meaning was ''love''; signing "love" and saying "peace" was a hippie anthem and mutual greeting.

[[John Lennon]] and his wife [[Yoko Ono]] later made "Peace and love" an ongoing theme in their relationship and public personae, even conducting a public "bed-in" (a parallel construction to a favorite hippie theme event during the 60s and early 70s, the "[[love-in]]") in [[Queen Elizabeth Hotel]] in [[Montreal]], [[Canada]], where they refused to leave their hotel bed.

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==The Peace symbol==
[[Image:Peace symbol.svg|left|thumb|150px|The CND or Peace symbol]]
[[Image:EdBishop1.JPG|left|thumb|150px|[[Ed Bishop]]'s [[tombstone]]]]
This symbol (☮) was originally used for the [[Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War]] (DAC) and was adopted as its badge by the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] (CND) in Britain, and originally was used by the British nuclear disarmament movement. It was subsequently adopted as an international emblem for the 1960s [[anti-war movement]], and was also adopted by the [[counterculture]] of the time. It was designed and completed [[February 21]] [[1958]] by [[Gerald Holtom]], a professional designer and artist in [[UK|Britain]] for the [[April 4]] march planned by DAC from Trafalgar Square, London to the [[Atomic Weapons Research Establishment]] at [[Aldermaston]] in [[England]]<ref name="Time Magazine 20080407">{{cite web
| title = A Piece of Our Time
| publisher = [[Time Magazine]]
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725969,00.html
| accessdate = 2008-04-02
}}</ref>.
The symbol itself is a combination of the [[Flag semaphore|semaphoric]] signals for the letters "N" and "D," standing for '''N'''uclear '''D'''isarmament. In semaphore the letter "N" is formed by a person holding two flags in an upside-down "V," and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. These two signals imposed over each other form the shape of the peace symbol. In the first official CND version (''preceded by a ceramic pin version that had straight lines, but was short lived'') the spokes curved out to be wider at the edge of the circle which was white on black. <ref>The CND symbol. Hugh Brock Papers. http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/cwlhbp.php</ref><ref name=CNDlogo>{{cite web
| title = The CND logo
| publisher = [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]]
| url = http://www.cnduk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=435&Itemid=131
| accessdate = 2008-04-03
}}</ref>

[[Image:Semaphore November.svg|left|thumb|90px|Semaphore 'N']] [[Image:Semaphore Delta.svg|left|thumb|90px|Semaphore 'D']]

Holtom later wrote to [[Hugh Brock]], editor of [[Peace News]], explaining the genesis of his idea in greater depth: "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 [[The Third of May 1808|peasant before the firing squad]]. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it."<ref name=CNDlogo/> <!--He also mentioned that he had intended its obvious resemblance to the [[anarchy symbol]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} However, it is more commonly believed that Holtom merely put a circle around a symbol that appeared throughout the English countryside near airbases. That symbol was of a strategic bomber which could be seen on road signs indicating where the air fields were located.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}-->

[[Image:USVietPeace.JPG|thumb|250px|A [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[Prisoner of War|PoW]] discusses his peace symbol necklace with his [[North Vietnamese Army]] captors during the [[Vietnam War]]]]

The peace symbol flag first became known in the United States in 1958 when [[Albert Bigelow]], a pacifist protester, sailed his small boat outfitted with the CND banner into the vicinity of a nuclear test. The peace symbol button was imported into the United States in 1960 by Philip Altbach, a freshman at the [[University of Chicago]], who traveled to [[England]] to meet with British peace groups as a delegate from the [[Student Peace Union]] (SPU). Altbach purchased a bag of the "chickentrack" buttons while he was in England, and brought them back to Chicago, where he convinced SPU to reprint the button and adopt it as its symbol. Over the next four years, SPU reproduced and sold thousands of the buttons on college campuses. By the late 1960s, the peace symbol had become an international symbol adopted by anti-war protestors of the [[Baby Boomer]] generation. <ref name=peacesymbol>{{cite book|title= Peace: The Biography of a Symbol | author= Ken Kolsbun with Mike Sweeney| publisher= [[National Geographic]] Books | sate=2008-04-01 |isbn =9781426202940 |url=http://peacesymbol.com | accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref>

In [[Unicode]], the peace symbol is U+262E: <big>☮</big>, and can thus be generated in [[HTML]] by typing &amp;#x262E; or &amp;#9774;. However, many browsers will not have a font that can display it.

=== Symbol Archive ===
The original drawing of the CND is housed in the Peace Museum, U.K.<ref>[http://www.peacemuseum.org.uk/ The Peace Museum, Bradford<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> in [[Bradford]], England, where a replica is on public display.

=== Antagonism ===
[[Image:TIME Magazine September 17 1951 cover.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Cold War|Cold-War]] era ''[[TIME Magazine|TIME]]'' cover of September 17, 1951 by [[Boris Artzybasheff]] [[parody]]ing the hammer, sickle and [[red star]] symbols, mixing them with the “dove and olive” symbol and [[Stalin]]’s face]]
The fact that the symbol resembles a bird foot in a circle gave rise to alternative interpretations, ranging from plain mockery of "[[crow's foot]]" or "The footprint of the American Chicken" to a number of [[occultism|occult]] meanings, such as an upside down crucifix with the arms broken downward, suggesting the way that [[Saint Peter|St. Peter]] was martyred (see [[Cross of St. Peter]]), or a representation of Jesus on the cross upside-down. This broken cross of Christianity was commonly conjectured as an [[antichrist]] symbol in the 1960s. Others have claimed that the symbol resembles a medieval sign known as "[[Nero's Cross]]" that represents Christian heresy.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.docspopuli.org/articles/Fist.html | title= The origin of the Peace Symbol | work=Docs Populi | accessdate=2008-03-21 }}
</ref><ref>[http://www.nisbett.com/symbols/peace_sign.htm Christian Resource Centre: Peace Sign]</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Subdivision bans peace sign Christmas wreath | date=2006-11-27 | publisher=[[Associated Press]] | url =http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15912456/ | work =[[MSNBC]] | pages = | accessdate = 2008-03-22 | quote = Homeowners association threatens to impose $25-a-day fine }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Kirk | last=Johnson | coauthors= | title=Pro-Peace Symbol Forces Win Battle in Colorado Town | date=2006-11-29 | url =http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/us/29wreath.html | work =[[New York Times]] | pages = | accessdate = 2008-03-22 | language = }}</ref> Alternatively, some have suggested that the symbol is an inverted [[Elhaz]] rune, which would reverse the rune's meaning, according to the critics, from 'life' to 'death' (although the Elhaz rune is thought to mean ''elk''<ref>{{cite book| last =Plowright| first =Sweyn| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =The Rune Primer| publisher =LuLu| year =2006| location =| pages =18,123| url =| doi =| isbn =1847282466}}</ref>). Gerald Holtom's explanation of the genesis of the symbol and his first drawings of it, however, do not support those interpretations.
Ken Kolsbum, a correspondent of Mr. Holtom, says that the designer came to regret the symbolism of despair, as he felt that peace was something to be celebrated and wanted the symbol to be inverted.<ref>{{cite news | first=Kathryn | last=Westcott | coauthors= | title=World's best-known protest symbol turns 50 | date=2008-03-20 | publisher= | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7292252.stm | work =[[bbc.co.uk]] | pages = | accessdate = 2008-03-20 | language = }}</ref>
The peace symbol was also believed by some to represent a swept-wing bomber, the type that would be used to deliver a nuclear weapon.
Ironically, a nearly identical symbol was used by the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] [[3rd Panzer Division]] during [[World War II]].<ref>Panzer Divisional Markings. [http://www.germandressdaggers.com/Panzer%20Section%20Divisional%20markings%201%20to%203.htm]</ref>

Richard M. Spencer, late of the [[World Wildlife Fund]], creatived much unexpected derision when he used the [[symbol]] for the [[marketing campaign]] "Have you hugged a [[panda]] today?" which featured a drawing of a panda holding a peace sign. The posters were made during the height of the [[Vietnam conflict]] and the use of the peace sign turned off many would be supporters. The posters were redone with the panda holding its arms out instead.

== White Poppy ==
The [[White Poppy]] was first developed in 1933 by the [[Women's Co-operative Guild]] as an alternative to the Red Poppies used to commemorate British military dead. The newly-formed [[Peace Pledge Union]] (PPU) joined in distributing them in 1934, and white poppy wreaths were laid "as a pledge to peace that war must not happen again. In 1980, the PPU revived the symbol as a form of remembering the victims of war without glorifying militarism. In 1986 UK Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] expressed her "deep distaste" for the symbol.<ref>Bill Hetherington, "Symbols of Peace", Housmans Peace Diary 2007</ref>

==Other peace symbols==
[[Image:Madrid peace dove graffiti.jpg|thumb|right|Peace dove graffiti in Madrid. The Castilian "paz" translates to "peace".]]

The [[Origami crane]] is a well-known symbol for peace.

Some unique items have come to symbolize peace. For example, the [[Japanese Peace Bell]] was a gift from the UN Association of Japan to the [[United Nations]], presented to them in 1954. The bell remains at UN headquarters and is struck yearly, in remembrance for peace.

The [[Pax Cultura]] symbol, created by Nicholas Roerich has also been used as a peace symbol.

''[[Guernica (painting)|Guernica]]'', a painting by [[Pablo Picasso]], has also been associated with [[pacifism]]. Although it was not conceived by the author as a representation of war's horrors, its depiction of the [[Bombing of Guernica|Nazi Bombing of Guernica]] is now considered an iconic anti-war statement.

==See also==
*[[Peace pipe]]
*[[Palm frond]]
*[[V sign]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.peacesymbol.com The biography of the Peace Symbol by Ken Kolsbun] - PeaceSymbol.com
* [http://www.peacesymbol.org A tribute to the Peace Symbol and the Peace Sign] - PeaceSymbol.org
* [http://www.kolahstudio.com/Underground/?p=71 Peace symbols Part I] - peace signs and images (author: Arash Vahdati)
* [http://www.kolahstudio.com/underground/?p=72 Peace symbols Part II] - peace signs and images (author: Karan Reshad)
* [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_149.html What is the origin of the peace symbol?] (from [[The Straight Dope]])
* [http://humanpeacesign.org/ International Human Peace Sign]
* [http://www.bekejel.net/index.php?loader=oldal&page=jelek Live peace symbols] - in 30 country, 60 location
* [http://www.happybirthdaypeace.com Happy Birthday Peace] - celebrating 50 years of Gerald Holtom's peace symbol
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7292252.stm World's best-known protest symbol turns 50] - BBC News

{{anti-war}}

[[Category:Peace symbols| ]]
[[Category:1960s fads]]
[[Category:1958 establishments]]
[[Category:Hippie movement]]

[[de:Friedenszeichen]]
[[es:Símbolo de paz]]
[[eo:Pacsimbolo]]
[[fr:Symbole de la paix]]
[[id:Lambang perdamaian]]
[[it:Simbolo della pace]]
[[ja:ピースマーク]]
[[pl:Pacyfa]]
[[pt:Símbolo da paz]]
[[ru:Пацифик]]
[[fi:Rauhanmerkki]]

Revision as of 13:23, 18 January 2009

lets see the peace sighn is an upsidedowncross with an x through it made after Jesus Died to make fun of him