In today’s thread , Cecil mentionned :
I can offer confirmation of this. To be, precise, it was the symbol of the 3rd Panzer Division from 1941-45 and the resemblance is more than striking.
It is more than a little weird to picture The Footprint of the American Chicken emblazoned on the side of a tank storming across the Polish Frontier.
Anywho, I always thought it looked like the bastard child of the Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler logos.
Back in the day it was common knowledge that the peace symbol was the foot print of a dove with the circle representing the earth.
And, like much “common knowledge”, incorrect.
Yeah, but we didn’t care, as long as we had an answer. Correctness was not a requirement back then.
You got that right, I guess now I can wear one 40yrs later.The circle stands for the world and the lines inside are semifore symbols for the letters “N” and “D” standing for nuclear disarmament. Now I need to check all my yearbooks to back this up. As Arnie said, "I’ll be back.
Note to self: Read the OP fully before posting.
Sorry about that Chief.
You know, since you posted that, I keep hearing in my head : “This invasion has been brought to you by Mercedes. Come see our 1939 models, now in store.”
My uncle never liked hippes he use to babble of in german,(under his breath). After his death we learned that he drove tanks under Romell.Greetings all,
The resemblance to the 3rd Panzer Div. is certainly striking. In fact I could not see any difference between the designs. Maybe there is some small detail of proportion I am missing, but they are certainly very, very similar.
It seems unlikely to me, that this is more than a coincidence.
Perhaps a case of parallel invention? Adaption of a symbol form one meaning to another (the Swastika comes to mind)?
It’s anyone’s guess it seems to me, althoug it would be intersting to know.
Calling it “The Track of the American Chicken” or the Peace Sign is just viewing two sides of the same coin. Both ends of that debate
have much wieght of argument on either side - and I certainly do not propose to continue that discussion here! 
Frankly, I don’t think that Peace Sign it has wide curency anymore, regardless of how you view it.
For the record (such as it is), when I was a lad in the '60s, it was explained to me as a bomber “entrapped” in a circle, and therefore unable to do harm.
Another sign, or gesture rather, that has been adopted in a similar way is the two finger “V”. Held up with palm facing outward (to distinguish from the, what I consider to be superior, fashion of “flipping the bird” in the UK), this has been used to mean “Victory” (often in war) and “Peace” in later times.
Although I must admit - I use the “Limey Salute” more often than I do the “Peace Sign”!
Just some ramblings.
Regards to all.
This concept was undoubtedly fosterd by MAD magazine.
No matter what other drugged out ideas people came up with at the time, think about the timing of the peace symbol. It was the 60’s. We were importing every pop cultural thing we could from Britain. It just makes sense that someone would have seen the CND symbol and carried it across the pond for the anti-war movement.
I even remember hearing this explanation at the time. This is a good thing, because when it came back into ‘fashion’ about 5 years ago, I had a Brit ask me why everyone was wearing the CND symbol – he didn’t recognize it as a ‘peace’ symbol at all.
How fitting that the “chicken footprint” or “peace sign” is of Nazi origin. What do these pseudo-pacifists peaceniks say now.