Peace advocates march to the British Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in 1958. FILE/george Stroud/Express View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

Quest for peace continues as iconic symbol turns 50 TO LEARN MORE

Peace symbol celebrates 50th anniversary

Date published: 4/6/2008

BY EDIE GROSS

It debuted in London's Trafalgar Square on Good Friday 1958, in the hands of protesters marching to an atomic weapons facility 50 miles away.

Since then, has popped up virtually everywhere. In Mos-cow's Red Square and on the Washington Mall.

In the West Bank and Cape Town.

Around the necks of soldiers in Vietnam and atop mortar boards of fresh graduates.

On graffiti-covered walls in L.A. and across the bellies of pregnant women united against war.

Friday marked the 50th anniversary of the coming out of the peace symbol, one of the most recognizable emblems in the world.

"It's displayed in so many colorful ways," said Ken Kolsbun, co-author of "Peace: The Biography of a Symbol," which was published this month by National Geographic. "It's a classic symbol, and it's as familiar as the Red Cross sign or the Coca-Cola sign. It's an icon."

Kolsbun, a California resident and longtime peace activist, started photographing the symbol about 40 years ago when it took center stage at protests against America's involvement in Vietnam.

What many don't realize, he said, is that the symbol is a British import.

Gerald Holtom, a textile designer and member of the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, created the symbol for the committee's march to the British Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston.

The four-day trek started on April 4, 1958, when thousands sporting the "lollipop" placards gathered in Trafalgar Square.

Ten days later, a photo of the crowd appeared in Life magazine. The symbol had officially arrived in the United States.

AN ICON BUILT TO LAST

Holtom, a graduate of London's Royal College of Arts, thought the symbol might catch on, said Kolsbun, who corresponded with the artist before his death in 1985.

When designing the banners for the march to Aldermaston, he drew the emblems in white on dark backgrounds so they'd show up well in newspaper and TV shots.

He made them waterproof as well as reflective to headlights, so passing motorists could see them at night.

Shortly before the march, Holtom walked into a local post office wearing a peace button on his lapel, Kolsbun said.

When the clerk asked him what it meant, he explained that it stood for nuclear disarmament. The lines inside the circle resembled the semaphores, or flag signals, for the letters N and D.

Gerald Holtom, a British artist and conscientious objector, created the "peace symbol" by combining the semaphores, or flag signals, for the letters N and D--for Nuclear Disarmament. He later wrote of his design: "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 peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it." Ken Kolsbun, co-author of "Peace: The Biography of a Symbol," is collecting personal stories from folks who have specific memories about the peace symbol, possibly for publication in a book. To submit a story or photo or read some examples, visit peacesymbol .com. To learn more about the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and its 50-year connection to the peace symbol, visit cnduk.org on the Web.

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Date published: 4/6/2008