Symbol: Peace

Encyclopaedia Brittanica tells us that, "The modern peace sign was designed by Gerald Holtom for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958. The vertical line in the center represents the flag semaphore (method of signaling with flags) signal for the letter D, and the downward lines on either side represent the semaphore signal for the letter N...."N" and "D" for Nuclear Disarmament, enclosed in a circle. Haltom also described the symbol as representing despair, with the central line forming a human with arms questioning at sides."
Jacopo Prisco tells us that, "In the 1960s, in the US, it was mainly anti-war, used by protesters and the counterculture movement, and, free from copyright, it traveled worldwide. [cnnstyle.com]