Does anyone know...?

Question

what the ORIGINAL meaning of the peace sign is?
Here a hint: the present meaning is related to the original.

By "sign" I mean "symbol", i.e. the circle with the jet thingy in it.

Answer 1

The symbol you speak of comes from the Archaic Etruscan alphabet from around the 7th century BC. It represents the sound kh. This alphabet traveled around and found itself being used by the Norse, Celtic and Germanic tribes, and later became known as the elder futhark. When Istvan the first Christian king of Hungary came to power he banned this alphabet. When used upright by the Norse, Celts, and German tribes, it was a symbol of sedges protecting wildlife from the hunter. Upside down represented harvest, the cutting down of the sedge. The wild life, was trapped, skinned and dried into jerky for the winter. It was considered a time of peace as most northern nations and tribes did not engage in warfare during the snow season. It was a time of peace and survival. Later, a circle was placed around the letter to "contain" and preserve its essence or power. Later cultures and groups re-invented this emblem in a different manner, but the meaning of peace has remained essentially the same. This early Etruscan letter is better known today as the "Peace Symbol".

Answer 2

Well Mashka is partially right it is a one of the symbols that make up the peace sign is runic symbol but not the rune of death. To precise is it an inverted Norse runic symbol. The " jet looking thing in the middle" of the circle is the inverted rune Algiz. The most commonly associated meanings of this rune in it's upright position are Protection, Shielding.The circle is a common symbol of unity. Thereby the meaning of peace derived from this pairing of symbols indicates the lack of need for protection and shielding due to the encompassing unity.

Overtime like all ancient symbols it has been used by a variety of different groups to further the agendas of those using it. One of the biggest examples of this is believe it or not the is swasitka. While the Nazi Party co-opted the swasitka for there own agenda the original meaning of this symbol was fortune, as in luck not money. I suppose the idea for the Nazi party was that if they carried that symbol with them into battle, luck would be on their side.

Answer 3

Originally if you wore the sign upside down, you would be known to be with an evil occult group. That was the original belief and when the pot smoking hippies got a hold of it, most of them being stoned out of there minds started to paint the symbol upside down on buldings and there vehicles. Today now most kids look at it as the original peace sign. Peace dude!

Answer 4

In the middle ages, archers made the “peace sign” to taunt their enemies. It was much like the middle finger of today. If you’ve ever used a bow and arrow, you would know that you use those two fingers to aim the arrow. When an archer was caught, rather than killing him, those two fingers were cut off. How it became the symbol of peace I am not sure. I assume hippies in the ‘60’s (seriously).

Answer 5

"This forked symbol was adopted as its badge by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Britain, and originally, its use was confined to supporters of that organization. It was later generalised to become an icon of the 1960s anti-war movement, and was also adopted by the counterculture of the time. It was designed and completed February 21, 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a commercial designer and artist in Britain. He had been commissioned by the CND to design a symbol for use at an Easter march to Canterbury Cathedral in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in England.

The symbol itself is a combination of the semaphoric signals for the letters "N" and "D," standing for Nuclear Disarmament. In semaphore the letter "N" is formed by a person holding two flags in an upside-down "V," and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. These two signals imposed over each other form the shape of the peace symbol. In the original design the lines widened at the edge of the circle.

A conscientious objector who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the Second World War, Holtom later wrote to Hugh Brock, editor of Peace News, explaining the genesis of his idea in greater depth: "I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it." He also mentioned that he had intended its obvious resemblance to the anarchy symbol.

However, it is more commonly believed that Holtom merely put a circle around a symbol that appeared throughout the English countryside near airbases. That symbol was of a strategic bomber which could be seen on road signs indicating where the air fields were located. This is a much less creative and emotional explanation for the symbol but most likely the truth.

The peace symbol flag first became known in the United States in 1958 when Albert Bigelow, a pacifist protester, sailed his small boat outfitted with the CND banner into the vicinity of a nuclear test. The peace symbol button was imported into the United States in 1960 by Philip Altbach, a freshman at the University of Chicago, who traveled to England to meet with British peace groups as a delegate from the Student Peace Union (SPU). Altbach purchased a bag of the "chickentrack" buttons while he was in England, and brought them back to Chicago, where he convinced SPU to reprint the button and adopt it as its symbol. Over the next four years, SPU reproduced and sold thousands of the buttons on college campuses."

Answer 6

"Known as the 'peace sign' throughout the 1960's and into the present day, this symbol is the Teutonic rune of death. 1950's peace advocate Gerald Holtom may have been commissioned by communist sympathiser Bertrand Russell to design a symbol to unite leftist peace marchers in 1958. It is clear that either Holtom or Russell deemed the Teutonic (Neronic) cross as the appropriate symbol for their cause.

"Throughout the last 2,000 years this symbol has designated hatred of Christians. Nero, who despised Christians, crucified the Apostle Peter on a cross head downward. This hideous event resembled the Teutonic cross and became a popular pagan insignia of the day. Thereafter, this sign became known as the 'Neronic cross.'

"The symbol's origin in history proves it to be the visual mystic character for 'Aum' (the split 'Y'). This is the sacred word to the Hindu. Chanting 'Aum' is supposed to help awaken 'the serpent power of Brahma' at the base of the human spine. Occultist Albert Pike also identifies this symbol as mystical in his book on Freemasonry Morals and Dogma.

The peace symbol (also called the "broken cross," "crow's foot," "witch's foot," "Nero Cross," "sign of the 'broken Jew,'" and the "symbol of the 'anti-Christ''') is actually a cross with the arms broken. It also signifies the "gesture of despair," and the "death of man.''

"The Germanic tribes who used it attributed strange and mystical properties to the sign. Such a 'rune' is said to have been used by 'black magicians' in pagan incantations and condemnations....To this very day the inverted broken cross--identical to the socialists' 'peace' symbol--is known in Germany as a 'todersrune,' or death rune. Not only was it ordered by Hitler's National Socialists that it must appear on German death notices, but it was part of the official inscription prescribed for the gravestones of Nazi officers of the dread SS. The symbol suited Nazi emphasis on pagan mysticism.''

Answer 7

This forked symbol was adopted as its badge by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Britain, and originally, its use was confined to supporters of that organization. It was later generalised to become an icon of the 1960s anti-war movement, and was also adopted by the counterculture of the time. It was designed and completed February 21, 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a commercial designer and artist in Britain. He had been commissioned by the CND to design a symbol for use at an Easter march to Canterbury Cathedral in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in England.

The symbol itself is a combination of the semaphoric signals for the letters "N" and "D," standing for Nuclear Disarmament. In semaphore the letter "N" is formed by a person holding two flags in an upside-down "V," and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. These two signals imposed over each other form the shape of the peace symbol. In the original design the lines widened at the edge of the circle.


Semaphore 'N'
Semaphore 'D'A conscientious objector who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the Second World War, Holtom later wrote to Hugh Brock, editor of Peace News, explaining the genesis of his idea in greater depth: "I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it." He also mentioned that he had intended its obvious resemblance to the anarchy symbol.

Answer 8

Victory

Answer 9

victory. then it became the peace sign.

Answer 10

Um, peace?