Why Pigeon Is a Symbol of Peace?
In movies, books and political speeches, we’ve always seen pigeons referred to as a symbol of pigeons.
But why is the pigeon a symbol of peace? The influence of religious scripture, mythology, and crucial communication roles during wartime has led the pigeons to become a universal symbol of peace.
These reasons warrant a detailed analysis that dates back thousands of years to understand the pigeon’s transformation from just a bird to a peace symbol.
After hours of research, we’ve managed to create a timeline for this and come up with a compilation of reasons for the pigeon’s current status as a peace symbol.
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History of Pigeons as a Symbol of Peace
When I started on the topic, the question that came to my mind was when a pigeon stopped being just a bird and became a symbol. I wanted to know how pigeons become associated with peace.
And I found that there are multiple reasons why pigeon is now known as a symbol of peace.
In the Old Testament story, it’s been written that Noah released the dove to find out if the flood water had receded from the land.
The pigeon came back with an olive branch. That meant there was dry land out there and there was peace on the land.
For its role as a messenger of good news to Noah and its special place in Christianity, the Europeans started to see pigeons as a symbol of peace.
In addition, pigeons have been used as messengers during wars for thousands of years and saved countless lives thanks to their ability to navigate challenges and deliver the message.
This fact also helped to establish the pigeon as a symbol of peace.
Let’s go through the history of mankind and its relation with pigeons to understand its significance better.
01. Persia
The first network of pigeons as messengers was established by Cyrus the Great from Persia in the 5th century BC. He used them to send messages to his subordinates.
02. Ancient Greece
In ancient Greece, their goddess, Aphrodite was symbolized by doves. Her temple was filled with engraved paintings of doves.
Also, news of victories during the Olympics was sent to other cities by pigeons.
Every contestant used to bring a homer pigeon from their village to the game, and if they won, the pigeon would return to the village with the message.
03. Romans
Conquest of Gaul was a big challenge for Julian Ceaser and communication was a key obstacle. To overcome the communication problem, he started using pigeons as messengers, which worked great as he won the war in 51 BC.
As Romans took over from the Greeks, they also adopted their gods and kept the same symbols. During that time, they had a goddess of fortune called Fortuna. Her symbol was also a dove.
04. Middle Ages
During the early Middle Ages, Europe didn’t use pigeons to send messages.
And until the 1600s, there were strict laws in place prohibiting anyone from keeping pigeons other than the nobility or monasteries.
However, the Arab Muslims used pigeons extensively as messengers during the time as homer pigeons could deliver a message within a 400-mile range.
Marco Polo, in his writing, wrote in detail about the use of pigeons as messengers in the East.
During the crusade, the Christian nobility were exposed to the potential of pigeons as messengers and since then, they also started to use pigeons as messengers. The practice continued until the telegram was invented.
An interesting thing is in Europe at that time, there was a superstition that devils and witches could transform into birds but couldn’t transform into pigeons because of their purity.
05. World Wars
The British Intelligence Service used pigeons as an instrument to communicate with sympathizers in the enemy country during World War 1.
They used to parachute the pigeons from an airplane in a designated area, and although a lot of them perished, many returned with important messages.
After the success of using pigeons in World War 1, the British Intelligence Service scaled up the use of birds and used more than 250k pigeons in World War 2 for communication.
Thirty-two pigeons got the Dickin Medal, which is the highest award for valor given to animals.
Apart from the British, both the US Army and Australian Army also used pigeons heavily and had their own pigeon units.
Read our article about “Pigeon Fun Facts“
What’s the Role of Religion in Pigeon Being a Symbol of Peace?
Pigeons have a strong connection to many religions. Let’s discuss how the major religions see pigeons here –
01. Christianity
According to the Old Testament, Noah used a dove to find out about the flood situation. Due to this, doves are associated with peace and good news. They also closely associate doves with their holy spirit.
02. Judaism
Jewish sacred text, the Talmud, details many incidents of pigeons and thus, pigeons have a special place in the Jewish religion.
03. Islam
In Islam, pigeons are well-liked by Muslims, but there’s no spiritual connection to the bird.
04. Mythology
In ancient Mesopotamia, Inanna-Ishtar, their goddess for love, sexuality, and war was symbolized by doves. Paintings of doves can be seen in the temple of Inanna, dating back to the 13th century BC.
In the ancient Levant, there were a good number of followers of a religion called Canaanite. The symbol of the goddess Asherah of that religion was doves.
Doves feature in Japanese mythology too, as Hachiman, who was their god of archery and war, had doves as his familiar spirit.
Dove’s importance, we mentioned earlier, as their goddess Aphrodite was also symbolized by pigeons.
Modern-Day Uses of Pigeons as a Symbol of Peace
Pigeons are still important and seen as a peace symbol in current times. Here are some examples of how pigeon is being used as a peace symbol lately –
01. Politics
Pigeon has a special significance in US politics. Politicians who prefer peace and oppose the use of military power to solve a dispute with a foreign country are called doves.
On the other hand, politicians who prefer military means to end a dispute are known as hawks. These terms became popular during the Vietnam War.
02. Sports
Doves are released to initiate the Olympic games as a call to bring peace among all the participating nations.
The tradition also pays respect to the roots of the game when pigeons used to be sent to different cities to announce the names of the victors.
Conclusion
The pigeon’s symbolic connection with the pigeon primarily comes from religious scriptures.
But its historical influence and role as messengers in troubled times of war spanning thousands of years and many different civilizations also established its position as the peace symbol.
Even in modern times, pigeons are associated with advocating peace.
So, it can be said that the pigeon’s enduring legacy as a peace symbol tells a tale of history, culture, and religion.
References:
- https://www.pigeoncontrolresourcecentre.org/html/the-pigeon-in-history.html
- https://www.newdelhitimes.com/pigeons-a-messenger-in-war-but-a-symbol-of-peace/
- https://allisondreid.com/2018/03/19/medieval-monday-pigeons-and-dovecotes/
- https://www.sarahwoodbury.com/messenger-pigeons-in-the-middle-ages/
- https://wysinfo.com/doves-and-pigeons-in-history/
- https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/doves-and-hawks
