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The Peace Symbol in America

Page history last edited by Chelsea Williams 13 years, 3 months ago

Peace Symbols in the United States 

 

 

     Following its design in 1958, the peace symbol quickly made an entrance in American culture. Bayard Rustin, a pacifist in the United States took part in the Easter day march and returned to the United States with posters from the march (Miles, 110). This was the first introduction of the symbol into American antiwar organizations. Rustin was also an advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, enhancing his passion for peace (Miles, 110). Gerald Holtom, the symbol’s designer, witnessed a peace sign made of white flowers placed on Dr. King’s coffin following his assassination. He described this as the “justification for the creation of this symbol” and was humbled by the event (Rigby, 479). Association of this symbol with a strong determined leader such as Martin Luther King demonstrates the power the symbol itself possessed. The emotions of hope, pride and sadness can all be equally represented and passed on through the generations through one iconic image. This image would forever stand for the brotherhood, hope and unity that Martin Luther King himself was fighting for within America. Dr. King also established a sense of community among his followers. This community could be continued through an image such as the peace symbol. This was the true turning point for popular uses of the peace symbol in America. Loss of a beloved leader and hope for a peaceful union among American people led to a heightened push in peace activist groups who quickly adopted the symbol across the country. These groups continued in Holtom’s pursuit of a “unilateral action in pursuit of peace and justice” (Rigby, 479).

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Dr. King displaying his Nobel Peace Prize, 1964

(www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/0062)

 

     The next large push for the use of the peace symbol in America came from a group called the Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA). Established by twelve original members, Albert Bigelow was one of the twelve that introduced the peace symbol. CNVA formed in 1957 and underwent attempts to enter a nuclear site at Camp Mercury in Nevada (Miles, 110). CNVA later became the parent organization for other sub-groups such as the Polaris Action pacifists (Kosbun, 58). Polaris activists underwent several attempts to break security lines on docks to board submarines carrying nuclear missile in the summer of 1960 (Kosbun, 58). Led by Bradford Lyttle, the group eventually managed to board the Polaris submarine. While this action had no effect on stopping nuclear war, the peace symbol gained advancements in recognition throughout the United States. The design appeared in CNVA magazines and flyers, marking the first official publication of the peace sign in association with an anti-nuclear group in the United States (Kosbun, 58).

 

Life, 1961

(www.coverbowser.com/image/life/1367-1.jpg)

 

     Following the national recognition of the peace symbol and anti-war and anti-nuclear movements happening worldwide, peace marches began to appear across the country. Of these marches, the most notable was the peace walk from San Francisco to New York which contained over two thousand participants in late 1960 (Kosbun, 61). Marches and protests began to flood American culture, fighting for peace and freedom.

 

The Need for a Symbol  in American Culture

 

     The United States’ extreme interest in the use of a symbol to represent a national feeling or cause can be associated with several ideas. Symbols provide a visual representation for emotions, experiences, cultural views and political views. The symbol also influences the behavior and actions of a group. It is the representations of the symbol that can transform and change depending on the group using the symbol. War time propaganda often has this same effect, trying to unite the nation behind a visual idea such as Uncle Sam and the army. This visual representation can be adapted to incorporate other ideas or emotions, depending on the group using the symbol.

 

     Creation of a symbol, such as the peace symbol, first and foremost develops a sense of community among the group boasting the sign. As described in the Introduction of Stephen Duncombe’s Cultural Resistance Reader, the sense of community that a symbol provides establishes the “we” factor of a problem. It is no longer an individual’s feeling or problem, but a group feeling that becomes a bigger social problem. The peace symbol unites people in a group, providing the collaborative sense of commitment to a problem (Duncombe, 4).

 

     The symbol also represents not only an idea on paper, but it transforms an idea into visual actions that a group can perform. How a group represents and uses the peace symbol determines how the symbol is used and what “dominant social structure” it is challenging (Duncombe, 5). Originally intended to stop Nuclear War, the peace symbol has transformed to challenge many other anti-war campaigns, fighting among gender groups, and Christian campaigns. The group’s re-creation of the classic symbol defines the current structure it is used to protest against.

 

     While the symbol itself cannot change a social structure, it is the symbol that unites a community of people around a common “focal point” (Duncombe, 6). Americans thrive on this sense of community, responding positively to and joining group actions that resemble their own. It is the appeal of a uniting community that has led to the peace symbols enduring nature. Generations and fights for political ideas may change, but the community the symbol creates transcends these factors. It is this flexibility between groups and time that has made the peace symbol such an appealing aspect in American culture.

 

 

       

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