The internationally recognized symbol for peace was originally designed for the British nuclear disarmament movement by Gerald Holtom in 1958.
The symbol is a combination of the semaphore 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.
In Unicode, the peace symbol is U+262E: ☮.




Photo of the first peace badge made by Eric Austen for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958 from Gerald Holtom's original design.