Peace Sign Symbol ☮ Copy & Paste

About Peace Sign Symbol

The peace symbol ☮ (U+262E) is one of the few modern designed symbols to achieve both Unicode encoding and global cultural recognition. It was designed in 1958 by graphic designer Gerald Holtom for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The design combines the semaphore signals for 'N' (arms pointed diagonally downward) and 'D' (one arm up, one down) — abbreviating 'Nuclear Disarmament' — within a circle. Holtom deliberately placed the design in the public domain, ensuring it could never be owned or restricted.

The Yin Yang symbol ☯ (U+262F) represents the Taoist concept of complementary opposing forces — dark (yin) and light (yang) — in a state of dynamic balance. It appears in the Miscellaneous Symbols block alongside other religious and philosophical symbols. The yin-yang concept dates back to at least the 3rd century BCE in Chinese Taoist philosophy. In Unicode, it shares the Miscellaneous Symbols block with the peace symbol, the Star of David, the cross, and other culturally significant symbols.

The Victory Hand ✌ (U+270C) sits at an interesting intersection between peace signaling and cultural expression. As a two-fingered V-sign, it was adopted as a peace symbol during the 1960s anti-war movement, inspired by Winston Churchill's WWII victory sign. In modern usage, particularly in East Asian pop culture and the 'kawaii' aesthetic, ✌ functions more as a cute expression or selfie pose than a political statement — the same symbol carrying completely different cultural weight in different contexts.