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A peace symbol is a thing or occurrence that for various reasons has been connected with and chosen to symbolize peace. A peace symbol is generally regarded as a very positive symbol, and are used for many causes, for example by various international organizations, as well as in protest or manifestations.
Generic peace symbols
The dove and the olive branch
A white dove is generally a symbol for peace. This comes from an old biblical motif; a dove was supposed to have been released by Noah after the flood in order to find land; it came back carrying an olive branch, telling Noah that, somewhere, there was land. A dove with an olive branch, then, has come to symbolize peace.
"The 70's" peace symbol
The peace symbol (☮) was designed and completed February 21 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a commercial artist in Britain. The symbol resembles a crow's foot in a circle.
Holtom had been commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to design a symbol for use at an Easter march to Canterbury Cathedral in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in England.
The peace symbol was popularized in America by such pacifist figures as Albert Bigelow.
The symbol itself is a combination of the semaphore signals for the letters "N" and "D", standing for Nuclear Disarmament. (The letter "N" is two flags held in an upside-down "V", and the letter "D" is one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down).
Conspiracy theorists have ascribed a number of occult meanings to the symbol, rejecting the explanation that it stems from the semaphore. The far-right John Birch Society, for instance, has referred to it as a "broken cross" – accusing the peace movement of repudiating Christ. It has also been called a relative of the Nazi swastika – or the rune algiz inverted, said to mean "hidden danger". It resembles the rune calc.
In Unicode, the peace symbol is U+262E, and can thus be generated in HTML by typing ☮ or ☮. However, many browsers will not have a font that can display it.
Unique peace symbols
Some unique items have come to symbolize peace, often monuments.
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.
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