Smiling Sun
{{Short description|Anti-nuclear power logo}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
The Nuclear Power? No Thanks logo ({{langx|da|Atomkraft? Nej tak}}), also known as the Smiling Sun, is an international symbol of the anti-nuclear movement. The logo has been present worldwide since the late 1970s and the 1980s. BBC News reported in 2005 that few symbols had become "as instantly recognizable across the world", and even the nuclear power industry had recognized the logo's "power and success."{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4484642.stm|title=The other smiley|publisher=BBC News Magazine|first=Denise|last=Winterman|date=1 December 2005}} Over 20 million Smiling Sun badges have been produced in over 60 languages,{{Cite web|title=History of the Smiling Sun|url=https://www.atomkraftnejtak.dk/smilingsun/|access-date=|website=Atomkraft? Nej Tak|language=en-US}} such as Danish, Korean, Swedish, English, Arabic, Hebrew, Norwegian, and Russian. In recent years{{when|date=May 2023}} the logo has been playing a prominent role once again to raise awareness and funding for anti-nuclear groups, especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland where opposition is growing to plans for extending the operation of old nuclear reactors 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 {{Interlanguage link multi|Organisationen til Oplysning om Atomkraft|dk}} (OOA; English: Organization for Information on Nuclear Power).{{cite news|date=12 July 2011|title=The Origin of the Anti-Nuclear Emblem: 'We Wanted a Logo that Was Cheerful and Polite'|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,773903,00.html|work=Spiegel Online|publisher=}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Eller |first1=Emil |title=Hun stod bag verdenskendt logo: 'Det var et høfligt nej tak' |trans-title=She Created the World-Famous Logo: 'It was a polite no thanks' |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/hun-stod-bag-verdenskendt-logo-det-var-et-hoefligt-nej-tak |access-date=15 May 2025 |work=DR Nyheder |date=14 May 2025 |language=da}} The house where Lund designed the original symbol can still be seen in Klostergade 6-8, Aarhus, Denmark.{{cite web|title=Smiling Sun Mural, Aarhus, Denmark|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/smiling-sun-anti-nuclear-power-mural|accessdate=1 March 2022|website=Atlas Obscura|publisher=}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:AOPLACES).|date=April 2024}} After the Fukushima disaster in 2011, a new version was released for renewable energy, with the statement "Renewable Energy Yes Please!" ({{langx|da|Vedvarende Energi Ja Tak!|links=no}}) on a green background with a yellow sun.{{cite web|title=Renewable Energy|url=http://www.smilingsun-shop.org/en/Renewable-Energy/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308003729/https://www.smilingsun-shop.org/en/Renewable-Energy/|archive-date=2017-03-08|accessdate=1 May 2016|website=smilingsun-shop.org|publisher=OOA Fund}} The original logo has been translated into over 60 different languages.
Mural in Aarhus, Denmark
File:Vestergade (Aarhus) 03.jpg
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.{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:AOPLACES).|date=April 2024}}
Trademark
The Smiling Sun logo is an internationally registered trademark.{{Cite web |title=NUCLEAR POWER? NO THANKS - REGISTERED TRADEMARK - EUIPO |url=https://branddb.wipo.int/en/brand/EM500000004193091 |website=branddb.wipo.int}}{{Cite web|title=EUTM file information: Nuclear Power? No Thanks|url=https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#details/trademarks/004193091|website=EUIPO}} The purpose of the trademark is to protect the logo against alteration and prevent use by commercial and partisan political interests.{{Cite web|title=Why is the logo protected?|url=https://www.atomkraftnejtak.dk/logo_protection/|access-date=|website=Atomkraft? Nej Tak|language=en-US}} Anti-nuclear groups may apply for user rights to the OOA Fund in Denmark.{{Cite web|title=How to use|url=https://www.atomkraftnejtak.dk/how-to-use/|access-date=|website=Atomkraft? Nej Tak|language=en-US}} The Italian political parties Federation of Green Lists, Federation of the Greens and Green Europe have licensed use of the symbol for their party electoral materials and logos. The Green Party Taiwan and the Maltese Democratic Alternative used the smiling sun symbol in the past too. It is also used by the Alternative Ecologists, United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia and Initiative for Catalonia Greens. A variation is used by {{ill|Ökologische Linke|de}}.
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.{{cite web|last1=Connor|first1=Steve|date=23 February 2009|title=Nuclear power? Yes please...|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/nuclear-power-yes-please-1629327.html|access-date=21 March 2022|website=The Independent|publisher=}}
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."{{cite web|last1=Monbiot|first1=George|date=15 September 2016|title=Nuclear power – yes please. Hinkley Point – no thanks|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/15/nuclear-power-no-hinkley-point-yes-atomic-energy|access-date=21 March 2022|website=The Guardian}}
Additional pro-nuclear environmentalist commentators have supported the "Nuclear Power? Yes Please" messaging as "part of a comprehensive post-carbon energy" system.{{cite web|last1=Gitlin|first1=Jonathan M.|date=19 March 2009|title=Nuclear power? Yes please!|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2009/03/nuclear-power-yes-please/|access-date=21 March 2022|website=Ars Technica|publisher=}}{{cite web|last1=Brook|first1=Barry|title=Nuclear Power – Yes Please! (why we need nuclear energy to beat climate change)|url=https://bravenewclimate.com/2010/07/28/nuclear-power-yes-please-for-cc|website=bravenewclimate.com|date=27 July 2010|publisher=Brave New Climate|access-date=21 March 2022}}
Gallery
Gorleben Stein.jpg
Lachende sonne ostermarsch2011.jpg
File:20110320ManifAntinucleaireParisFukushima.jpg
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.smilingsun.org}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.ooa.dk/eng/engelsk.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227085348/http://www.ooa.dk/eng/engelsk.htm|archive-date=2021-02-27|website=OOA.dk|title=About OOA (Organization for Information on Nuclear Power)}}
{{Anti-nuclear movement}}