Some state that
was invented by Lord Bertrand Russell. S. T. Achen, however, claims
that
was designed by J. Holtom at the request of Russell. In any case
was initially used as a rallying sign at the 1958 demonstration against Aldermaston
(a British research center for the development of nuclear weapons).
The power of
is emphasized by the fact that the South African
government, during the 1970s, seriously considered forbidding
.
They found
"anti-Christian" and "pro-Communist."
Achen, the late Danish semiotician, wrote that
, ironically, was forbidden at times in some of the communist countries.
