What ☮ means, its 1958 design story, and how to type it — click to copy.
Click to copy · U+262E
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Character | ☮ |
| Unicode code point | U+262E |
| Unicode name | PEACE SYMBOL |
| Unicode block | Miscellaneous Symbols |
| Category | Special character |
| Designed | 1958 |
The peace symbol was designed in 1958 by British artist Gerald Holtom, commissioned for the very first Aldermaston march — a UK anti-nuclear-weapons demonstration organized by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Rather than inventing an abstract shape, Holtom built it from an existing communication system: semaphore, the flag-signaling code used by sailors.
Semaphore's letter N is signaled with both flags angled downward in a V shape; its letter D is signaled with one flag straight up and one straight down. Holtom overlaid the two letter-shapes — standing for Nuclear Disarmament — inside a circle, producing the three-line design instantly recognizable today. What began as a single-cause protest symbol was quickly adopted by the broader anti-war and countercultural movements of the 1960s, becoming one of the most widely recognized symbols of the 20th century.
| Platform | Works? |
|---|---|
| Instagram bio / caption | Yes |
| Discord | Yes |
| TikTok display name | Yes |
| Yes | |
| Roblox / PlayStation / Xbox username | No — alphanumeric only |
| Method | Input |
|---|---|
| Windows (Word) | Type 262E then press Alt+X |
| Mac | No dedicated combo — Character Viewer or copy from this page |
| HTML entity | ☮ (no short named entity) |
| CSS content | content: "\262E" |
☮ pairs with hand gestures, doves, and goodwill symbols in the Universal Spiritual Symbols section of the religious symbols library.
Browse Religious Symbols →British artist Gerald Holtom designed it in 1958 for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), for the first Aldermaston anti-nuclear-weapons march in the UK.
It combines the semaphore flag-signaling letters N and D — for Nuclear Disarmament — inside a circle. Semaphore N is two flags angled down and out in a V; semaphore D is one flag straight up, one straight down. Overlaid, the two letters form the three-pronged shape inside the circle.
It falls outside the simple four-digit Windows Alt-code range. Use the Alt+X hex method in Word (type 262E, then press Alt+X), the Character Map, or copy it directly from a reference page. In HTML, use ☮ — there's no short named entity.