in the day ... 21st February 1958

The very best logos are the simplest ones don't you think? Apple, Facebook, MacDonalds...you name them, their logos are simple, instantly recognisable and worth an absolute mint.

Sometimes we forget how important logos and symbols are. The fact that we can so easily forget about them shows just how important they’ve become in our lives. They’ve just become part of our consciousness. They’re just there. They conjure up memories, moments in time, songs, people. 


Show someone a logo and I bet you get a story! A cross, a crescent moon, a swastika, the golden arches, the apple logo, the ford logo (pity it’s not the ferrari logo, hey?!). 

The peace logo must be one of the most powerful symbols ever created. This might be because it’s not really associated with a brand, a product or a company. It symbolises a movement, a feeling, a desire. It’s not really ‘owned’, so in that sense it’s hard to give it a value. As I type this the facebook ‘f’ logo has a value of about $100billion and Apple’s cute little apple symbol is apparently heading towards being the first ever $1trillion logo. Not bad, hey? For a couple of little designs that were probably created on the back of a fag packet!!

But the peace sign. Wow! it’s universally known and it conjures up a heap of emotions, thoughts and memories.

For me, it brings to mind the 1980’s. That was when nuclear disarmament was the issue of the day, especially in England. I’d joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). They used to organise marches and protests. These were in the days when people marched and protested about stuff they were passionate about. Before Facebook petitions and twitter. One march in London saw more than 100,000 people walk from Blackfriars Bridge to Hyde Park. The Style Council and UB40 played a Ban the Bomb concert in the park. I was there with a few friends and we'd all been taken there by a teacher at our school. I’m not sure that teachers these days would be allowed to take a bunch of their students to a Ban the Bomb concert in a city four hours away. There’d be a few insurance issues, I reckon! Pity, hey...

Anyway, the universal peace symbol is instantly recognisable. It's also really quite   clever. It was designed by Gerald Holten. It’s a combination of the semaphore letters N & D ... for nuclear disarmament. His original drawing of the symbol is on display in the Peace Museum in Bradford, England. 

Just so you know, in these times of brand-protection and mega-lawsuits, the peace symbol isn’t copyrighted or protected in any way at all. It's yours! You're free to do what you wish with it. Pop it on a t-shirt, a mug, or tattoo it on your chest. Go for your life.

The clever chap, Mr Holten, designed it on February 21st 1958. I wonder if the Facebook logo or that little twittering bird will still be around in 55years??  

Peace be with you!

pip pip