50th Anniversary of the Peace Logo

April 18, 2008 - 8:54pm — AMP

50th Anniversary of the Debut of the Peace Logo Celebrated

ALDERMASTON, UK.-The 50th anniversary of the debut of the peace logo
and the first Aldermaston march was marked by the family of designer
Gerald Holtom by traveling to Aldermaston. Gerald Holtom died in
1985. He designed the logo in 1958 for a march and based it on the
fallen arms of a man in despair, while the semaphore signals for "N"
and "D" combine within the circle of life.

Darius and Rebecca Holtom, his son and daughter, travelled from
Montpellier in France to join the rally.

Darius Holtom, aged 41, said: "It's hard to believe it has taken off
and has dispersed miraculously all around the world. I think it's
amazing, and it's great there's at least a symbolt that people can
identify with which represents basic humanity, freedom and the
environment and ecology.

He added: "My father didn't talk much about it. It was something he
did quite a few years before, and he was already onto other projects,
but he was supportive of environmental issues."

Pat Arrowsmith was on the committee of four to choose the logo
said: "It's rather annoying when it's taken up for things which are
sometimes too remote. I'm happy for it to be an anti-war symbol
without it necessarily being anti-nuclear weapons."

This was posted on the Art4Development Yahoo! Groups listserv.