Topic: Origin of the Peace Sign


ClassBrain Visitor:

Dear Class Brain,

What is the origin of the peace sign that started being used in the 1960's? My pastor at church says it symbolizes a broken cross and does not represent the "right kind of peace." I find this sort of hard to swallow.

ClassBrain Response:

This is by far one of the most interesting questions we've ever received. While trying to sift through numerous conflicting stories concerning the origin of the peace sign, I came across a few possibilities. Here are some links to what I found. Instead of giving you a definitive answer, I thought it would be best to present you with some resources so you can draw your own conclusion.


Symbols.com
The banner is annoying but the description is interesting.

International Signal Flags
If you take the theory that the peace symbol came about as a result of placing the International Flag Symbols for "N" and "D" ("Nuclear Disarmament") on top of each other, and putting a circle around it, this seems like a possibility.

Peace Symbol History
This article takes the idea from the previous link and explains it pretty well. Keep in mind it's from a European perspective so some words might be spelled differently. This is the most common explanation I came across.

Christian Resource Centre (Bermuda)
The only article I found that came even remotely close to a religious interpretation of the peace symbol was this one.

Learn more about the peace sign with the help of Google