Gerald Holtom
Gerald Herbert Holtom (born January 20, 1914 , † September 18, 1985 ) was a British visual artist and designer . He was especially known for designing the logo for the campaign for nuclear disarmament ( Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament , CND abkgekürzt) in 1958. This logo is up to the present world as a peace symbol (the so-called "peace sign") spread ( Unicode Character set as U + 262E ☮ PEACE SYMBOL). It is used regularly in various actions of the peace movement , including the annual Easter marches for disarmament and peace .
Holtom studied at the Royal College of Art in London . During the Second World War he refused military service due to his pacifist attitude, and he continued to do so after the war. On February 21, 1958, on behalf of the forerunner organization of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), he designed the aforementioned logo for the first “Aldermaston March” from London to the nuclear weapons research center in Aldermaston , Berkshire, on Easter of the same year (April 4th to 7th ); a demonstration from which the Easter march movement developed, for example in the Federal Republic of Germany, from the early 1960s.
The design of Holtom's peace symbol was a stylized combination of the letters "N" and "D" (as initials for Nuclear Disarmament → Atomare Disarmament) from the international winker alphabet , which is used in particular in seafaring. According to another - by Gerald Holtom himself - the origin of the sign, it depicts a stylized human being with arms helplessly spread downward in the face of a world that is rigid with arms. The surrounding circle symbolizes the entire earth.
"N" in winker alphabet (after Holtom as abbreviation for nuclear → atomic) 
"D" in winker alphabet (after Holtom as abbreviation for disarmament → disarmament) 
The CND symbol ("Peace Sign") designed by Gerald Holtom
Web links
- Christiane Peitz: The death and the male article in the Tagesspiegel from March 30, 2003 on the history of the "peace symbol" and its inventor
- Kathryn Westcott: World's best-known protest symbol turns 50 (translated: "The world's best-known protest symbol turns 50") (English); BBC News (news.bbc.co.uk) of March 20, 2008
swell
- ^ BR2-Das Kalenderblatt: Christiane Neukirch: First appearance of the peace symbol from April 4, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Holtom, Gerald |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Holtom, Gerald Herbert (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British visual artist and designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 20, 1914 |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 18, 1985 |