The Nuclear Power? No Thanks logo (), also known as the Smiling Sun, is an international symbol of the

anti-nuclear movement The Anti-nuclear war movement is a new social movements, social movement that opposes various nuclear technology, nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified them ...

. The

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

has been present worldwide since the late 1970s and the 1980s.

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

reported in 2005 that few symbols had become "as instantly recognizable across the world", and even the

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

industry had recognized the logo's "power and success." Over 20 million Smiling Sun badges have been produced in over 60 languages, such as Danish, Korean, Swedish, English, Arabic, Hebrew, Norwegian, and Russian. In recent years the logo has been playing a prominent role once again to raise awareness and funding for anti-nuclear groups, especially in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

where opposition is growing to plans for extending the operation of old

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

s and constructing new ones.

Design history

The Smiling Sun logo was designed in 1975 by, then 21-year-old Danish activist and designer Anne Lund, who was part of the Danish (OOA; English: Organization for Information on Nuclear Power). At the time of creating the logo she had no prior design experience. The logo was trademarked in 1977. By posing the question: "Nuclear Power?" and providing a concise answer, "No Thanks", the logo was intended to express polite dissent and—by questioning nuclear power—to stimulate dialogue. The house where Lund designed the original symbol can still be seen in Klostergade 6-8,

Aarhus, Denmark Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

. After the Fukushima disaster in 2011, a new version was released for

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

, with the statement "Renewable Energy Yes Please!" () on a green background with a yellow sun. The original logo has been translated into over 60 different languages.

Mural in Aarhus, Denmark

In 1983, a mural of the Smiling Sun was painted near the crossing of Vestergade and Emil Vetts Passage in Aarhus, near the location where it was originally designed by Lund. However, in 2008, it was almost destroyed because of real estate developments in the area, but protests by its admirers succeeded in keeping it intact. More recently, it was restored.

Trademark

The Smiling Sun logo is an internationally registered

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

. The purpose of the trademark is to protect the logo against alteration and prevent use by commercial and partisan political interests. Anti-nuclear groups may apply for user rights to the OOA Fund in Denmark. The Italian political parties

Federation of Green Lists The Federation of Green Lists () or Green List (''Lista Verde'', LV) was a green political party in Italy. Its members included Gianni Francesco Mattioli, Lino De Benetti, Gianfranco Amendola, Alexander Langer, Enrico Falqui, Sauro Turroni and A ...

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens (, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. The FdV was part of the Eur ...

and

Green Europe Green Europe (, EV), officially Green Europe – Greens (''Europa Verde – Verdi''), is a green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 4 ...

have licensed use of the symbol for their party electoral materials and logos. The

Green Party Taiwan Green Party Taiwan is a political party in Taiwan established on 25 January 1996. Although the party is sympathetic to Taiwanese nationalism and shares a number of centre-left positions with the Pan-Green Coalition, the party emphasizes campai ...

and the Maltese Democratic Alternative used the smiling sun symbol in the past too. It is also used by the

Alternative Ecologists The Alternative Ecologists (), officially the Federation of Ecologists and Alternative Groups, was a federation of several groups created after the good performance of an autonomous electoral platform also called Alternative Ecologists in the 198 ...

United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia (. IULV–CA) is the Andalusian federation of the Spanish left wing political and social movement United Left. Toni Valero is the current General Coordinator. It is currently part of the electoral ...

and

Initiative for Catalonia Greens Initiative for Catalonia Greens (, ICV; ) was an eco-socialist political party in Catalonia. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was ...

. A variation is used by .

Nuclear Power? Yes Please

A network of pro-nuclear physicists, software developers, and environmental activists drew inspiration from the original anti-nuclear logo, but viewed nuclear power as part of a sustainable and environmentally-friendly energy option into the 21st century, and devised a similar image—with a pro-nuclear connotation—as part of an ongoing effort that originated in 2008. Some commentators in support of the "Nuclear Power? Yes Please" movement have made arguments that nuclear power should be regulated and safely conducted, but not outright banned, arguing that "the overwhelming priority for those who make decisions about energy must be to avert climate breakdown. They need to keep the lights on, but not by sacrificing the future welfare of humanity and Earth’s living systems. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. It is also better to curse the darkness than to burn your house down." Additional pro-nuclear environmentalist commentators have supported the "Nuclear Power? Yes Please" messaging as "part of a comprehensive post-carbon energy" system.

Gallery

Gorleben Stein.jpg Lachende sonne ostermarsch2011.jpg File:20110320ManifAntinucleaireParisFukushima.jpg

References

External links

* * {{Anti-nuclear movement Anti-nuclear movement Political symbols Symbols introduced in 1975