The Peace Symbol and Commercialism

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        From the Nixon administration to the Reagan, Bush and currently Obama, the peace symbol has continued to be a sign of endearment. Activist groups, students and the general public still proudly display the symbol for peace, each doing their small part to make a change. It is a “visual proclamation” of values and a “contribution to the culture of peace” (Rigby, 479). Marches and protests still occur with the symbol as their leading front. The original black and white design is still popular in political use; however, the peace symbol is now more commercialized than ever (Miles, 158). Clothing, jewelry, household decorations can all be found with the design on them in a variety of colors and designs. These latest designs are sometimes referred to as “mobile peace symbols,” worn to express the person’s comments or views (Rigby, 476). The popularity of the symbol in fashion is due partly to the beauty of Gerald Holtom’s design, the “simplicity of it…anyone can- and may have- reproduced it on innumerable surfaces, countless materials” (Miles, 158). Fashion runways, U.S. Postal Service stamps, backpacks, shirts, belts….. the peace symbol can be found anywhere. According to the CND website, the peace symbol is intended to represent the freedom of people (Campaign). Therefore, CND has never put a patent or copyright on the peace symbol; “nobody owns it” (Kosbun, 171). People are free to use the symbol as they wish without paying for it. Popular culture has taken the symbol and mass produced it to meet the fashion interests of millions in the most modern community displaying it. 

     The counterculture hippies adopted the symbol to make a statement against a consumer based society. Commercialization and profit was something to protest in order to promote local production of goods from people known within the community. Ironically, the symbol has become one of the most reproduced images for mass culture production as well as popular culture. The sense of community and comradery between the counterculture and the peace symbol has expanded beyond its original beginnings. As referred to by Asa Briggs, “folk culture rested on the base of personal face to face communication, and the culture grew directly from the people who enjoyed it” (Briggs, 6). The peace sign was originally produced and used in a local setting, where groups designed and wore it as was need on an individual basis. Currently though, the symbol has become a commodity for the masses, “marketed by profit-seeking providers who claimed misleadingly that they were giving people what they wanted” (Briggs, 6). The symbol is now in some cases merely a fashion trend, designed to gain large profits by the manufacturing companies. Young children can be seen wearing it on clothing, without any knowledge of its origins or meanings. The market producers are presenting a fashion icon or pop culture design to the masses making the symbol equally as popular today as it was in the 1960’s, but for different meanings and reasons. The sense of community the symbol creates among Americans is still as present today as it was during its original creation. However, the meaning and ideas present within the communities continue to change throughout America’s culture and generations.

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