I have read in more than one book that the Peace symbol is evil. That it was intentionally made as a broken, upside-down cross to desecrate christianity. But where did it first show up? And what was its purpose?
I’ll bet those books are fundamentalist christian in origin.
It was invented in England during the height of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 50s. It merely consists of the semaphore signals for N and D inside a circle. I would have thought the simplest Google search would have turned up this info.
So would the simplest search of the Straight Dope archives: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_149.html
What you read in those books is complete and utter horsecrap, dreamed up by folks who seem compelled to ascribe anti-Christian motives to everything they don’t like.
Heck, I figured general questions is a good place to ask. If you say i can find it easier elsewhere, you don’t need to answer even.
Straight Dope Knows All. Are you saying Google is better??? :o
Vanilla
No. What we are saying is that some folks use the SDMB as their first resort.
Some questions asked here have answers that could be easily found in a dictionary, almanac, encyclopedia, etc. For the tougher things you’d consult Google. For the really difficult questions you should use the SDMB. (at least the General Questions section of it).
The N & D semaphore explanation is probably true…
that said, the old Catholic vestments on the back did portray a cross with arms turned upward (which I think is also a Nordic rune)- and inverted would appear similar to a peace sign. I think that’s coincidental.
In my fundy days, I made a fool of myself a fool times claiming the Satanic origins of the peace sign, and citing Mike Warnke as my authority! :smack:
You know the Procter & Gamble logo? The one with the unlucky 13 stars? Evil.
The eye on the US bills? Staring. Evil.
“In God we trust”? Cleverly subtle, but obviously the work of the Devil.
Satan is everywhere if you just know how to look. :rolleyes:
Please apologise the hijack. But:
I utterly loathe this attitude. GQ isn’t there solely for the benefit of those asking questions. The reason I, and others, read it is to find answers to questions I’d never thought about in the first place.
The OP was one of those questions, I’m happy someone asked it.
I wanted to say the same thing. Get out of my head!!! :eek:
Nicely said jovan
[sing]
That’s Ent-Ter-Tain–ment.
[/sing]
jovan, mkl12 and Khadaji
Well it seems there exists a difference of opinions here.
You folks have yours and I have mine.
And returning somewhat to the OP.
Here’s a quote I’ve always liked from the movie “Full Metal Jacket”.
Pogue Colonel: Marine, what is that button on your body armor?
Private Joker: A peace symbol, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Where’d you get it?
Private Joker: I don’t remember, sir.
Pogue Colonel: What is that you’ve got written on your helmet?
Private Joker: “Born to Kill”, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You write “Born to Kill” on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?
Private Joker: No, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You’d better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant shit on you.
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you’ll be standing tall before the man.
Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.
Pogue Colonel: The what?
Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.
Speaking as one who was there at the time, but NOT an insider:
The general consensus of the meaning of the Peace Symbol to the participating populace was that it was a representation of a bomber or of a nuclear missile. The slogan often used when the symbol was carried in protest was “Ban the Bomb.” (Later changed to “Peace, Now.”)
I would never doubt Cecil (who would?), but it was likely only the insiders who know the unlikely semaphore connection (which of us hippies knew semaphores?) and the rest of us just made and passed on the connection with bombers and missiles.
Sure. I see it clearly now. There’s an uncanny resemblance. :rolleyes:
This isn’t the “origin”, but it was popular in the 60’s to say it was “a B-52 at the bottom of a trash can.” That’s the bomber, not the band.
This is historical, now, not politics, okay? 
