Ok you '60s dudes and dudettes: How did an upside-down “Y” in a circle become a peace sign? And, does the hand gesture for peace come from the “V” for Victory hand gesture?
Thanks,
- Jinx
Ok you '60s dudes and dudettes: How did an upside-down “Y” in a circle become a peace sign? And, does the hand gesture for peace come from the “V” for Victory hand gesture?
Thanks,
Semaphores apparently. Although the first article on the page is obviously full of shit.
The Master, Mighty Cecil Adams has Spoken! Heed his screed ----
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_149.html
Real Cool, Daddy-Oh!
Emblem of the American chicken.
I have always (since 1962 or so) associated it with the Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA), founded in 1957
by members of War Resisters League and Catholic Worker Movement. With a little imagination you can fit a C and an N and a V and an A in a “peace sign.”
As is indicated in Cecil’s column, the peace sign was created in 1958 for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). I’ve personally talked with someone who remembered the creation of the sign. Claims that the modern use of it came from somewhere else are as silly as claims that the Nazi swastika is actually no more than an American Indian or a Hindu symbol. The swastika (or something like it) was apparently used in American Indian and Hindu mythology, but that’s not why the Nazis used it. They used it because they considered it their sign. The fact that it may have been loosely inspired by something else is irrelevant. Similarly, the fact that the peace sign may vaguely resemble early signs is irrelevant. It meant nothing to the CND members except as a sign of their organization.