item details
Unknown; graphic designer
Overview
This badge was made to be worn in protest against French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
History of nuclear testing in the Pacific
From 1946 to 1996, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom used parts of Micronesia and Polynesia to test nuclear weapons. The small Pacific atolls and islands were overseas territories of these powers, and were chosen because they were far away … from them. Both atomic and hydrogen bombs were tested. However, the tests were not remote from the Pacific peoples who lived there, and the radioactive contamination their homelands received will endure for thousands of years.
French testing
Between 1966 and 1996, the French carried out about 190 nuclear tests at Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls in French Polynesia. These caused reef damage, landslides, subsidence, radioactive emissions, and fish poisoning.
New Zealand's role
Many people vigorously protested during the 1960s and 70s against French nuclear testing, including independent voluntary protest flotillas which sailed to the Moruroa testing zone in 1972 and 1973 at great risk.
In 1973, the New Zealand government sent Navy frigates (first the Otago and then the Canterbury) to the Moruroa testing zone, and took France to the International Court of Justice. France stopped atmospheric nuclear testing in 1974, but resumed testing underground instead until 1996.
Imagery
The anti-nuclear movement employed several well-understood images to represent its concerns. In this badge, a ubiquitous palm tree represents the Pacific. However, this seemingly clichéd motif becomes powerful and poignant when threatened by the symbol for nuclear power (three broad rays from a central circle). Skulls, representing death, hang from the trees instead of fruit.
Wearing protest
The visual culture of anti-nuclear protest often took form in a range of popular media, including banners, T-shirts, and badges. Badges are accessible, mass-produced objects, cheap to make and purchase, easily disseminated, and effective in conveying political messages. Slogans such as 'Nuclear Free Pacific' were commonly known and understood.