The viral ‘Peace for Paris’ symbol

PARIS, France –  A “Peace for Paris” symbol, combining the city’s beloved Eiffel Tower with the peace sign of the Sixties, has gone viral following the Paris terror attacks.

The designer is a 32-year-old French graphic artist, Jean Jullien, who lives in London.

Peace for Paris

A photo posted by @jean_jullien on Nov 13, 2015 at 3:05pm PST

Listening to the radio, he became horrified by the violence unfolding in his nation’s capital and reached for his sketchpad.

“My first reaction was to draw something and share it,” he told Agence France Presse. “It was spontaneous. I wanted to do something that could be useful for people.”

“Given the scale of the violence, the peace-and-love symbol was essential. It was then quite an easy thing to combine it with the Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris,” he added. “The two symbols fit together.”

The peace-and-love motif was adopted by Britain’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in the 1950s, before being used by anti-war and “counter-culture” militants in the 1960s.

Jullien posted the combined symbol on his website and then tweeted it. Within hours, it was shared more 45,000 times and retweeted 76,000 times, including by the British underground artist Banksy.

At least 128 people were killed and several hundred were killed in coordinated gun-and-explosives attacks on a Paris concert hall, restaurants and the Stade de France stadium.

A similiar Internet phenomenon occurred after the January 7 attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were killed by jihadist gunmen.

Joachim Roncin, artist director and music journalist at the lifestyle magazine Stylist, devised a slogan of solidarity, “Je Suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), in white capital letters on a black background. (READ: Cartoonists worldwide respond to Charlie Hebdo killings)

He placed the image on social media, and within hours it was picked up around France and beyond, becoming the totem of nationwide rallies totalling an estimated four million. – Rappler.com

More on the Paris attacks:

• Rockers in Paris attacks to return to US
• Over 128 killed, 180 injured in Paris attacks
• IN PHOTOS: November 13 Paris attacks
• ISIS claims Paris attacks
• The Bataclan theater in Paris: From music venue to killing ground
• U2 cancel Paris concert after attacks
• US band caught up in Paris attacks reported safe
• Witnesses tell of ‘bloodbath’ at Paris rock concert
• Shock, horror for 80,000 fans at Stade de France after Paris attacks
• French search for friends, shelter online after Paris attacks

Global, social media reactions

• New York’s Met Opera sings French anthem after attacks
• Music world in shock over Paris concert massacre
• World leaders condemn Paris attacks, vow to help
• Pope Francis on Paris attacks: ‘This is not human’
• Aquino: ‘Philippines stands shoulder to shoulder with France’
• ‘This time it’s war:’ French press react with horror to attacks
• World mourns and condemns attacks in Paris
• #PrayForParis, #Fusillade trends on Twitter amid Paris attacks
• Celebrities call for support, prayers for Paris