Peace rainbow flag
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The Peace rainbow flag is a rainbow flag representing peace, first used in Italy in a peace march in 1961, inspired by similar multi-coloured flags used in demonstrations against nuclear weapons.
In recent years, especially in connection with the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, there has been a surge in popularity of the Peace flag, a series of seven rainbow colors (red on bottom) with the word PACE (Peace in Italian, derived from the Latin word pax) boldy printed across the middle. The more recent usage originated in Italy. In most of the world[citation needed], however, the rainbow flag (red on top) is most often connected with gay pride. The usage of the rainbow can either be tracked back to pacific coexistence of different people, or to the rainbow that God showed Noah at the end of the worldwide flood as recorded in the Bible, as a token of the covenant that He made between Himself and mankind, that He would not again destroy the entire world with a flood (Genesis 9)[1]. The flag in its current shape appeared as early as September 24, 1961, in an Italian peace march. It had previously featured a dove drawn by Pablo Picasso. [2]
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[edit] Usage
The flag was flown from balconies in all Italian cities by citizens against the war. Its use spread to other countries too, and the Italian Pace was replaced with the corresponding translation in the local languages.
According to Amnesty International, producer Franco Belsito had produced only about 1,000 flags for 18 years, and suddenly had to cope with a demand in the range of millions. [3]l
[edit] History
This rainbow flag in Italy was first used in a peace march in 1961, inspired by similar multi-coloured flags used in demonstrations against nuclear weapons. It became popular with the Pace da tutti i balconi ("peace from every balcony") campaign in 2002, started as a protest against the impending war in Iraq. The most common variety has seven colours, purple, blue, azure, green, yellow, orange and red, and is emblazoned in bold with the Italian word PACE, meaning "peace".
[edit] Variations
Common variations include moving the purple stripe down below the azure one, and adding a white stripe on top (the original flag from the 60s had a white stripe on top). This flag has been adopted internationally as a symbol of the peace movement.
