Fifty years ago last month the sign which became known as the world's peace symbol was born.   

The BBC reported that it had its first public outing  on a chilly Good Friday as thousands of British anti-nuclear campaigners set off from London's Trafalgar Square on a 50-mile march to the weapons factory at Aldermaston.

Gerald Holtom, a designer and former World War II conscientious objector from West London, persuaded the organisers that their aims would have greater impact if they were conveyed in a visual image. The "Ban the Bomb" symbol was born, according to the Beeb.

'He considered using a Christian cross motif but instead, settled on using letters from the semaphore - or flag-signalling - alphabet, super-imposing N (Nuclear) on D (Disarmament) and placing them within a circle symbolising Earth. Holtom later explained that the design was "to mean a human being in despair" with arms outstretched downwards'.

The sign soon became identified with '60s protests - ranging from the Civil Rights movement to the range of protest issues in the American counter-culture. The BBC quoted Lawrence Wittner, an expert on peace movements at the University at Albany in New York, as saying it was still the dominant peace sign.

"Part of that is down to its simplicity. It can be used as a shorthand for many causes because it can be reproduced really quickly - on walls on floors, which is important, in say, repressive societies."