By IAN BENJAMIN
Executive Editor
Today is the anniversary of the creation of the peace symbol. Seen at right, it is created by combining a circle, a vertical line, and downward sloping lines. It is largely believed to have been conceived by Gerald Herbert Holtorn on February 21, 1958.
Holtorn, a designer, artist and graduate of the Royal College of Arts, created the symbol as part of his efforts with the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War. This group came together with many others in 1958 to form the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which took up the symbol for their cause.
“I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in a manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad,” said Holtorn when interviewed by the BBC.
