Pink Peace Sign

Pink peace sign on a black background

The modern peace sign as we know it was designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958 in support of the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The artist, familiar with flags and signaling, designed the mark to represent letters. The center line signals to the letter D. The sloping lines on either side represent the letter N. The N and D stand for the Nuclear Disarmament. Holtom explained that the symbol meant despair if seen as a questioning human (black stick figure) with his/her hands at his/her sides against the backdrop of the Earth (white background in circle). Holtom originally intended to use the Christian cross symbol, but did not want his movement to be associated with the Crusades. The peace symbol has often been misaligned as anti-Christian because of its similarity to an upside down cross.