WEBVTT - Who Created the Peace Sign (and Why)?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Loring bog obam here. If you have a

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<v Speaker 1>can of spray paint and a giant rock face to

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<v Speaker 1>paint on, and you need to tell a group of

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<v Speaker 1>people half a mile away that you come in peace,

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<v Speaker 1>how would you get the message across? You could paint

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<v Speaker 1>in all of branch or a origami crane of white

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<v Speaker 1>poppy or fingers making a V sign, But there's an

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<v Speaker 1>easier way draw circle bisect it with a vertical line

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<v Speaker 1>and two lines pointing down at a forty five degree

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<v Speaker 1>angle from that line, like two drooping arms, and Wala

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<v Speaker 1>message delivered. The peace sign is one of the most

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<v Speaker 1>recognized symbols in the modern world, and it's relatively short history.

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<v Speaker 1>It's become ubiquitous. It's on pajamas, jewelry, frisbees, in the

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<v Speaker 1>floor mats of cars. But it has also been used

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<v Speaker 1>as an emblem of a variety of uniquely twentieth century

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<v Speaker 1>cultural and political movements, from the hippies to women's rights,

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<v Speaker 1>to environmental protection to the end of South africa kind apartheid.

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<v Speaker 1>But it was created for a very specific movement, nuclear disarmament.

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<v Speaker 1>The peace symbol We Know and Love Today was created

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<v Speaker 1>by Gerald Holtum, a British artist and activist who was

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<v Speaker 1>a conscientious objector during World War Two. During the late

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifties, some people in England were concerned about what

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<v Speaker 1>they called the Big Bomb, the weapon that had seen

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<v Speaker 1>dropped on two Japanese cities during World War Two, effectively

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<v Speaker 1>ending the war but killing hundreds of thousands of civilians

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<v Speaker 1>in the process. But by night three countries, the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>the Soviet Union and England had begun to stockpile nuclear weapons.

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<v Speaker 1>The Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, a group of

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<v Speaker 1>pacifists and let's face it, people who were concerned about

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<v Speaker 1>a future in which one nation state could destroy another

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<v Speaker 1>by dropping a handful of bombs, organized a march from

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<v Speaker 1>London to a facility where nuclear material was produced fifty

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<v Speaker 1>two miles away that's about eighty three kilometers. Holton created

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<v Speaker 1>a logo for the event, a circle circumscribing to characters

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<v Speaker 1>from the flag semaphore alphabet, which is a type of

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<v Speaker 1>optical telegraph that's been used since the nineteenth century. The

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<v Speaker 1>two characters are n for nuclear, which has both flags

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<v Speaker 1>at the signal ER's side at forty five degree angles

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<v Speaker 1>and D for disarmament, which is a straight vertical line

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<v Speaker 1>with both flags pointing straight up. Holtem's goal was for

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<v Speaker 1>the symbol to be bold, simple, easily reproduced, and easily

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<v Speaker 1>recognized even on the grainy black and white television sets

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<v Speaker 1>of the day. And because he wanted his work to

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<v Speaker 1>do whatever the nfties version of going viral was, he'd

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<v Speaker 1>never copyrighted it and hoped it would take off. And

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<v Speaker 1>boy did it ever. We spoke with Ken Calls, been

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<v Speaker 1>author of Peace the Biography of a Symbol, which was

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<v Speaker 1>published in two thousand eight on the fiftieth anniversary of

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<v Speaker 1>the symbol. He explained that as the Vietnam War was

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<v Speaker 1>beginning in the early nineteen sixties, the symbol was adopted

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<v Speaker 1>as an anti war symbol, and because Holtem internationally made

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<v Speaker 1>it free for anyone to use, it was passed out

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<v Speaker 1>on buttons on college campuses throughout the war and adopted

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<v Speaker 1>by the hippie movement as a symbol of nineteen sixties

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<v Speaker 1>youth subculture. Colsben said the early anti war people were

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<v Speaker 1>not hippies so much as pacifists. Worried about the growing

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<v Speaker 1>fatalities in the Vietnam War, it morphed from a symbol

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<v Speaker 1>that stood for nuclear disarmament to one that stood for peace.

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<v Speaker 1>Gerald Holton died and, according to Colsben, who corresponded with

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<v Speaker 1>him during the nineteen seventies, Holton asked that his tombstone

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<v Speaker 1>depict the peace symbol he created, only with a twist.

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<v Speaker 1>Colsben explained on his tombstone he wanted the symbol inverted.

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<v Speaker 1>In other words, instead of drooping arms, he wanted the

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<v Speaker 1>arms of his peace symbol to be pointed upward. In

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<v Speaker 1>his mind, this symbolized the tree of life. In symbology,

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<v Speaker 1>when a symbol points downward, that means someone has died,

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<v Speaker 1>so I think later in life he realized he wanted

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<v Speaker 1>it to point up like the tree of life where

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<v Speaker 1>mankind lives. Unfortunately, Holton's revised peace symbol didn't make it

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<v Speaker 1>onto his tombstone, but the first iteration of a work

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<v Speaker 1>has certainly made an impression on the world. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>symbols are slippery. There have been plenty of emblems for

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<v Speaker 1>one idea or system of thought that have had their

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<v Speaker 1>meaning hijacked and changed by a political faction. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>the swastika is an ancient symbol that's been used in

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<v Speaker 1>many parts of the world, from Scandinavia to India to

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<v Speaker 1>the America's and the meaning is pretty wholesome and virtually

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<v Speaker 1>all cases, with the one very notable exception. In various traditions,

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<v Speaker 1>it was a symbol for divinity, good fortune, the sun,

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<v Speaker 1>well being. In rebirth. To the Buddhists, the swastika symbolized

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<v Speaker 1>the footprints of the Buddha. Of course, in the twenties

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<v Speaker 1>and thirties it was adopted by Nazi Germany as its

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<v Speaker 1>national symbol. As a result, when you see the swastica

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<v Speaker 1>these days, it brings up very different feelings than it

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<v Speaker 1>did for the thousands of years of human history that

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<v Speaker 1>came before it. Calls been said, the p symbol stands

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<v Speaker 1>for the rights of many groups of people. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>remarkable symbol. We always have to stay alert to political

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<v Speaker 1>factions picking up the symbol and changing the meaning. That

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<v Speaker 1>would be very unfortunate. M Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Jesselin Shield and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more in this and lots of other powerful topics is

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<v Speaker 1>our home planet, how stuff Works dot Com and for

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,

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