Freedom Force symbols
by G. Edward Griffin
During the Vietnam War, there was a powerful anti-war movement in the United States and Western Europe. Although the idealistic participants did not know it, the program was a Soviet stratagem directed from Moscow. The Leninist goal was to foster disunity and conflict within target nations and to create internal political pressure for their disarmament. That would have given the Soviets a nuclear superiority and allowed them to blackmail the free world into submission.
The innocents were drawn mostly from college campuses where Leninist professors implemented the party line by scaring the wits out of them with visions of global annihilation – not realizing that, if disarmament actually had been pursued, the chances of a nuclear attack against the United States and Western Europe
would have been greatly increased. (This has been documented by numerous Soviet defectors and government investigations during the Cold War, but one of the most comprehensive and scholarly references for this history is The Soviet Peace Offensive, published by the Western Goals Foundation, Alexandria, Virginia, in 1982.)
The so-called “peace symbol” for this movement was a circle containing a vertical line and two downward sloping lines, one on each side. Pacifists had been told that the symbol was created in 1958 for use in the Aldermaster Easter Peace Walk in England. Supposedly, the design was a combination of semaphore signs for the letters N and D, standing for Nuclear Disarmament.
The reality, however, is quite different. It was fashioned after a medieval symbol of Satanism, depicting the broken cross of Christianity. The “witch’s foot” or “raven’s foot,” as it was called in Europe, was then adopted by the Muslim world. When the Saracens invaded Spain in 711 A.D., the broken cross decorated their shields. In 1099 A.D., the Saracens fought the Crusaders under the same symbol. The symbol was chosen for the Aldermaster Easter Peace Walk by its well-known organizer, Bertrand Russell. The story about the semaphore symbols was an afterthought.
Russell was fiercely opposed to all religion, but particularly Christianity. He had been an officer in the Communist Teachers League of England. The Daily Worker, which was the official newspaper of the Communist Party in the U.S., quoted Russell as saying: “There is no hope in anything but the Soviet way.” Russell was also a prominent member of the Fabian Society.
After 1958, the so-called peace symbol became an indispensable accessory for just about every Communist-led movement throughout the Western world. (For more information about the origins of the peace symbol, see Oliver Day Street, Symbolism of the Three Degrees (New York: George H. Duran Co., 1922); also Cathy Burns, Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated (Mt. Carmel, PA: Sharing, 1998), pp. 234-236; also Carl Liungman, Dictionary of Symbols (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1991), p. 253.)
The war in the Middle East brought the symbol back onto the streets of America and Western Europe. Once again, well-intentioned participants flocked behind this banner totally unaware of its origins. They do not question the agendas of the individuals leading these demonstrations. They do not question how this movement arose simultaneously throughout the entire Western World, exactly the same as during the Vietnam War, and they are not curious about the funding and coordination that
such movements require. They do not recognize the old-line Marxist-Leninist slogans against capitalism spouted by their leaders. Therefore, they are not aware that most of these organizations have been aligned with the Leninist branch of world collectivism for decades. For them, it is sufficient only to know that the cry is for peace.
In the Vietnam War, we were given a false choice of being hawks or doves. We were expected to be either for the war or against it. Considering that the conflict was fought as a war of containment in which victory was not the goal, we actually were given a choice of being in favor of pulling out of the war and turning Vietnam over to the Vietcong quickly or staying in the war and turning the country over to the Vietcong slowly. That was no real choice at all. Yet those were the false options that divided so much of the free world at that time.
Once again, we find ourselves being maneuvered into that same trap. We are being asked to choose between two horrible options that are not real choices at all. We are expected to be either for peace or for war with no questions allowed.
The war in the Middle East, we are told, is necessary to protect us from terrorism. Yet, for reasons explained elsewhere on this web site, it has little to do with overcoming an enemy. That
may be what makes it acceptable to voters who are afraid for their safety, but at the strategic level, it is motivated primarily by lust for oil reserves, a contest for power between two powerful collectivist camps (The Leninists and the Rhodesians), and a desire to expand the role of the UN in world affairs.
If we continue to follow this path, the war will be relatively limited in scope but prolonged. Real victory will not be the goal. The predictable outcome of all the destruction and bloodshed on both sides will be the establishment of regimes just as totalitarian as the ones they will replace — to say nothing of the accelerated loss of liberty in what is left of the free world.
(For the record, this prediction, word-for-word, was published on the Freedom Force web site in 2006 at which time we received a great deal of criticism for our “conspiratorial” and “unpatriotic” attitude. It is regrettable that the prediction was accurate.)
What has all this to do with our symbol? It has everything to do with it. Let us recall the origin of the so-called peace symbol. Satanists are fond of opposites. They reverse graphic designs; create new words by spelling old ones backward; they even play music backward to create eerie sounds and hidden messages. OK, two can play
that game. If we turn this symbol upside down, we immediately see a figure of man reaching upward. What a powerful image it is – the upward reach of mankind: reaching up for good over evil; light over darkness, enlightenment over deception; freedom over slavery. I knew immediately it was what I was seeking to symbolize Freedom Force.
Then, much to my dismay, I discovered that the Nazis had used that same symbol (with the side lines drawn upward) on their badges. They placed a swastika at the top of the figure, but it was similar to the concept I thought I had invented.
Drat! The ideology of freedom is the exact opposite of Nazism, and there was no way I was going to adopt that symbol. But the idea of an upward reach was too good to discard. I began to look for a way to preserve the concept without relying on symbols of Satanism or Communism or Nazism. After experimenting with various lines and angles, the solution suddenly popped onto the page. It was a vertical line for man, a V for the upward reach, and a circle in the middle of the V, which completed the image by putting a head on the shoulders of man. The head, of course, represents the power of reason, and it created a symbol quite different in appearance from all the others.
It is important to understand that this is not a variation or adaptation of a Satanic symbol. A vertical line with upward angles was an ancient symbol for man long before it was turned upside down and used by Satanists.
When Satanists take the cross of Christianity and turn it upside down, that does not mean that the cross is now their symbol. They do not own something just because they desecrate it. Likewise, when they turn the symbol of man upside down, that does not mean that the symbol now belongs to them. To the contrary, it continues to be exactly what it always has been: a depiction of man. All we have done is add our own touch to craft a symbol for freedom.Imagine a throng of men and women standing in unison, arms stretched upward, palms facing inward, showing their solidarity by displaying such a positive and powerful gesture. The concept is compelling. It is my hope that “The upward reach” will become the universal symbol of our movement.
Marchers in Christchurch, England in 1960 were typical of thousands of people around the world who were hoodwinked into supporting a cause that was the opposite of what they thought.
Forty-three years later, the symbol was back on the streets of the Western world, as illustrated by this article dated Feb. 16, 2003. This time the protest was against the war in Iraq. Once again, innocent idealists were being led by Leninist organizations with a hidden agenda that has nothing to do with peace.
OTHER FREEDOM FORCE SYMBOLS
Other important symbols (shown below) appear on Freedom Force gold and silver medallions and in the Freedom Force Heraldic Achievement.
(Medallions are not in production at present because of the difficulty in obtaining gold and silver at quoted prices. We expect to be back in production eventually, so it will be worth your time to be familiar with the following,)
The Freedom Force Medallion (called the Libertatem) was created to meet two criteria. The first was to make it an elegant piece of fine art. The second was to arouse curiosity about the symbolism of the images and, thus, make the medallion a teaching tool.
Images were placed into a shield that represent the Three Commandments of Freedom. Outside the shield, there are five other symbols that represent important concepts in The Creed of Freedom. These eight symbols serve as a course outline for almost everything there is to learn about the foundation of freedom.
The Libertatem was designed by Freedom Force Founder, G. Edward Griffin. The exquisite drawings were created by Joan Lehmann Hunter, who is internationally recognized for
her vibrant illustrations of exotic animals. She is a member of Freedom Force and was Mr. Griffin’s assistant at the time these symbols were created.
The most conspicuous element on side 1 is the image of a horse reared to strike an adversary. In Heraldry, this is called Horse Rampant. The significance is explained by the Latin phrase around the edge of the medallion: “Impotentes defendere libertatem non possunt.” That means: “Those without power cannot defend freedom,” which is the Freedom Force motto.
The horse represents power, and the stance of confrontation suggests courage and determination.
Side 2 contains seven symbols plus text. The phrase: “An idea whose time has come” is taken from a quotation by Victor Hugo: “Greater than the force of mighty armies is the power of an idea whose time has come.”
The shield is divided into three parts, each representing one of the Three Commandments of Freedom. They are:
► Open hands releasing a bird into flight. This represents the Freedom-of-Choice Commandment: “Thou shall not use coercion for any purpose except to protect human life, liberty, or property.”
► Human figure holding a scroll in the air. The scroll represents the Individual-Rights Commandment: “Thou shall not sacrifice the rights of any individual or minority for the assumed rights of the group.”
► Blindfolded Lady Justice holding a scale. This represents the Equality Under Law Commandment: “Thou shall not endorse any law that does not apply to all citizens equally.”
There are four additional symbols between phrases around the edge
► Open book. This represents knowledge of history. Those without it are doomed to repeat its mistakes.
► Freedom Force symbol. This represents the upward reach of man.
► Gavel. This represents peaceful and lawful reform through action within organizations that constitute the power centers of society.
► The capital letter I within a circle represents individualism, the ideological foundation of Freedom Force.
COAT OF ARMS
The Freedom Force Heraldic Achievement has the same symbols as the medallion but brought together into one image. This commonly is called a coat of arms but. technically, the coat of arms is the shield. When all components are together, it is called the achievement. Click on image for larger view of the Achievement on an 8" x 8" Travertine tile for display on table, book shelf, or the wall. Available from Reality Zone.