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Overview
This badge effectively combines a rainbow as a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement with the brutal bombing of the Rainbow Warrior – a Greenpeace protest ship. The Rainbow Warrior was moored in Auckland in 1985 when two bombs ripped through it. The ship’s photographer died retrieving his camera.
Unhappy France
Two French government agents were caught and imprisoned for manslaughter. The bombing was intended to stop the Rainbow Warrior protesting against French nuclear testing at Moruroa atoll.
The attack galvanised the anti-nuclear movement in New Zealand, and New Zealand–French relations soured. France wanted its agents back and threatened to block New Zealand’s trade access to European markets if this didn’t happen. With important export markets at stake, politics won out over principles. The New Zealand government agreed to the agents being transferred to Hao atoll, where they served reduced sentences before returning to France as heroes.
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 were accessible, mass-produced objects, cheap to make and purchase, easily disseminated, and effective in conveying political messages.
Although they are among the smallest of protest objects, badges can be powerful and effective in delivering good design and concise messaging. For example, ‘You can’t sink a rainbow’ effectively combines a rainbow as a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement and the dove of peace with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, along with the impossible idea of actually sinking a rainbow.