Sunday, 11 November 2018 11:15 pm
The Peace (De)sign
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deckardcanineThe symbol called the peace sign sure is newer than I thought.
It’s not the kind of thing the schools I went to would have taught.
Designer Gerald Holtom, back in 1958,
Unveiled it at a meeting; the committee thought it great.
The lines within the circle came from semaphores, you see,
For nuclear disarmament’s initials, N and D.
The movement promptly used it for a march from London Town.
Americans adopted it when things were going down.
Yet Holtom cited Goya as another inspiration,
The lines like arms outstretched to represent his desolation.
He later gave the image further thought and was annoyed,
For when we get our peace at last, we should be overjoyed.
He wanted to invert it, but the timing was too late.
(Most users of that version stand for villainy and hate.)
To me, it hardly matters how we got the common sign.
It isn’t hard to render, and it’s understood just fine.
It’s not the kind of thing the schools I went to would have taught.
Designer Gerald Holtom, back in 1958,
Unveiled it at a meeting; the committee thought it great.
The lines within the circle came from semaphores, you see,
For nuclear disarmament’s initials, N and D.
The movement promptly used it for a march from London Town.
Americans adopted it when things were going down.
Yet Holtom cited Goya as another inspiration,
The lines like arms outstretched to represent his desolation.
He later gave the image further thought and was annoyed,
For when we get our peace at last, we should be overjoyed.
He wanted to invert it, but the timing was too late.
(Most users of that version stand for villainy and hate.)
To me, it hardly matters how we got the common sign.
It isn’t hard to render, and it’s understood just fine.