a new peace-logo

On the occasion of the PEACE exhibition, SCHIRN has run an international competition for a new PEACE logo. A logo that reflects our ideas on peace today. The logo contest is just one of countless activities accompanying the PEACE exhibition and designed to encourage participation and discussion. The emphasis throughout will be on interaction, debate, and creative thinking about a socially-relevant topic.

More than 600 people submitted designs.
The Jury

The winning logo was selected by an independent jury made up of the artists Marina Abramović and Britta Thie, the designers Konstantin Grcic and Eike König, and Tilman Röder, managing director of the Max-Planck-Stiftung für Internationalen Frieden und Rechtsstaatlichkeit.

The winning logo

The jurors chose the design of a blue dot, which was independently submitted by both Bekata Ozdikmen (Turkey) and Paul Müller (Germany).

In the opinion of the jurors, the new peace logo is distinguished by “compelling simplicity”; the “dot functions immediately as a symbol of our planet” (Konstantin Grcic). It “combines a neutral worldview and an (…) intuitive sign language, and is readily reproduceable” (Tilmann Röder). It reminds us “how important it is to preserve our planet” (Marina Abramović).

Bekata Ozdikmen (Turkey)

“We need to assert peace in all the world and not just among its countless peoples. We should remember that we all live together and can overcome borders and barriers. So let us listen to nature, let us be peaceful but ardent. Let us respect different languages, religions and ethnicities. All of that is embraced by the circle: as the most dynamic shape for the world that surrounds us. And as a symbol for a clear blue world.”

Paul Müller (Germany)

“When the space probe Voyager 1 took a photo in 1990 of Earth from 6 billion kilometers out, all it that could be seen of it was a Blue Dot (Carl Sagan). Exactly that should therefore be the logo for peace on Earth. Nothing more than a blue dot. The symbol is universal in culture and the combination of the circle with the blue color is understood the world over as the Earth. The advantage of the blue dot is also that it can be used universally. It can be applied swiftly and with the simplest of means to any surface, and – this being especially important in the digital age – there’s already a corresponding emoji.”

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