A circle enclosing a vertical line and two downward diagonal lines, originally designed for the British nuclear disarmament movement.
Also known as: CND symbol, Peace symbol, Peace sign
Designed in 1958 by British artist Gerald Holtom for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the symbol combines the semaphore signals for the letters 'N' and 'D' (nuclear disarmament) inside a circle. It first appeared publicly on the 1958 Aldermaston march and has since become a broadly recognised international symbol of peace.
Combines the flag-semaphore hand positions for the letters N and D (nuclear disarmament), enclosed in a circle, designed for the 1958 British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
United Kingdom · 1958 · Contexts: Political movements
Its designer, Gerald Holtom, also described a more personal reading: a human figure in a gesture of despair, arms dropped, set against a background representing the Earth.
Adopted internationally from the 1960s onward as a general symbol of peace and anti-war sentiment, well beyond its original anti-nuclear context.
Contexts: Political movements
A circle containing a vertical line down the middle and two lines angled outward and downward from the centre, resembling an inverted, broken letter Y.