A peace pole is a monument that displays the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in the language of the country where it has been placed, and usually 3 to 13 additional translations. The message often is referred to as a peace prayer.
The idea of peace poles was first thought up by Masahisa Goi in 1955 in Japan. The peace pole project today is promoted by The World Peace Prayer Society as well as other groups and individuals. The first peace poles outside Japan were constructed in 1983.[1] Since then, more than 200,000 have been placed around the world in close to 200 countries.
Peace poles are made of many materials; most are made of wood, while others are made of limestone, copper, plastic or stainless steel. The text might be painted, carved, etched, welded, pasted, or riveted on, or it might simply be a plastic plaque attached with screws. In other cases, it is the careful work of an artist or sculptor.
Sometimes the word prayer is avoided so that peace poles are not regarded as religious objects therefore violating zoning restrictions. For example, a Quaker group in New York City ran into this problem year after year, and did not get permission to plant a peace pole in a park. Some manufacturers refer to the wording as a Peace Message for this reason.[2]
Peace poles have been placed in such notable locations as the north magnetic pole, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the site of the Egyptian pyramids in Giza, and the Aiki Shrine in Iwama, Japan.[3] Peace poles are commonly installed at high-profile public gathering places, such as community parks or near the entrances of churches or schools. In one case, a garden, created for a wedding, was designed around the peace pole that was its centerpiece. The Republic of Molossia, a micronation, has a peace pole in eight languages.[4] The University of California, Los Angeles has a limestone peace pole with 14 languages directly in front of Kerckhoff Hall.
The initial inspiration for planting a peace pole often is as a response to a local historic hate crime, incident or issue. The world's second-largest peace pole, at,[5] is located in Janesville, Wisconsin, at the site of a 1992 KKK rally (Saturday, May 30).[6] [7] [8] Another of the largest peace poles in the world, as measured in tons, is the granite peace pole[9] in Beech Acres Park[10] near Cincinnati, Ohio, inspired by hate literature left in the driveways of Jewish residents.
In September 2016, the World Peace Prayer Society and the Little Free Library project announced a collaboration to offer a new peace pole library structure. It features the standard peace pole message of peace – "May Peace Prevail on Earth" – in a six-foot library. Some of these new libraries were installed at locations significant to the civil rights movement, such as the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.[11] [12]
A former grain elevator in Minneapolis is painted as a gigantic peace pole
The multilingual inscription of a peace pole constitutes a parallel text with top-to-bottom sentences. Each one is usually shown:
They can be set in different case styles (sentence case, title case all caps, small caps), even on a single pole.
| Language | Inscription (description) | |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Afrikaans: Mag Vrede Seëvier Op Aarde | |
| Albanian | Albanian: Paqe mbretëroftë në botë | |
| Algonquin | Quenohteau Ohke woh aquené omskauau | |
| Amharic | Amharic: ሰላም በሞላ ዓለም ይስፈን። | |
| Anishinaabe | ||
| Arabic | Arabic: السلام للعالم أجمع | |
| Armenian | Armenian: խաղաղություն ամբողջ աշխարի մարդկությանը։ | |
| Aymara | Aymara: Aka uraqinxa suma jakaña utjpa | |
| Aymara: Chukiago marca sumalaca ken sisiñani | ||
| Azerbaijani (Latin) | Azerbaijani: Yašasın sülh bütün dünyada | |
| Bafut | Àyǝʼǝtɨ anɨ mǝ tá mbɔɔnǝ kwɛrɨ nsɨe ntsɨm | |
| Bambara | Bambara: Nyesuma ka ladamu dukukolo kokan | |
| Belarusian | Belarusian: Няхай будзе мір чалавецтву ва ўсім свеце | |
| Bengali | ||
| Bislama | Bislama: Bambae pis i stap long wol | |
| Bulgarian | ||
| Burmese | ||
| Cambodian | Central Khmer: សូមឲ្យពិភពលោកបានសន្តិភាព ។ | |
| Cape Verdean / Kabuverdianu | Pa pas ka kaba na mundu | |
| Catalan / Valencian | Catalan; Valencian: Que la Pau Prevalgui a la Terra | |
| Catalan; Valencian: Que la pau prevalgui a la terra | ||
| Cherokee | Cherokee: ᎡᎶᎯᏃ ᏙᎯᏱ ᎨᏎᏍᏗ | |
| Chichewa / Nyanja | Chichewa; Chewa; Nyanja: Mtendere ukhale pa dziko la pansi | |
| Chichewa; Chewa; Nyanja: Mtendere ukhale padziko la pansi | ||
| Chinese | Chinese: ? | |
| Chinese: 我們祈禱世界人類的和平[13] [14] | ||
| Chinese: 但願世界永遠和平[15] | ||
| Chinese (Traditional) | Chinese: 我們祈願世界人類的和平 | |
| Chinese, Mandarin | 我们祝愿世界人类的和平[16] [17] [18] [19] | |
| Chinese, Mandarin (Latin)? | ||
| Comorian | Undetermined: Amani oharimwa ye duniya kamili | |
| Creole (Haitian) | Haitian; Haitian Creole: Pou lapè simaye dan lemond antye | |
| Creole (Seychellois) | Ki lape i rennyen dan lemonn | |
| Croatian | Croatian: Neka mir zavlada na zemlji | |
| Czech | Czech: Ať mír vždy vládne na Zemi | |
| Dakota | Dakota: Makasitomniya wodakota ni | |
| Dakota: Makȟasitoniya wodakȟota ni | ||
| Danish | Danish: Må fred herske på jorden | |
| Dari / Afghan Persian | {{Uninastaliq|برقرار باد صلح در جهان | |
| Divehi / Dhivehi / Maldivian | Divehi; Dhivehi; Maldivian: ދުނިޔޭގައި އަމާންކަން ދަމަހައްޓަވާދޭވެ. | |
| Douala / Duala | Duala: Ese̱le̱ musango mu be̱ O wase | |
| Dutch / Flemish | Dutch; Flemish: Moge vrede heersen op aarde | |
| Dzongkha | Dzongkha: འཛམ་གླིང་འདི་ནང་ལུ་ བདེ་སྐྱིད་ཕུན་གསུམ་ཚོགས་ཅུ་ཚིག། | |
| English | English: May Peace Prevail On Earth[20] [21] (title case) | |
| English: May peace prevail on earth[22] (sentence case) | ||
| English: MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH[23] (all caps) | ||
| English: {{smallcaps|May peace prevail on earth (small caps) | ||
| Esperanto | Esperanto: PACO REGU SUR LA TERO | |
| Esperanto: Paco regu sur la tero | ||
| Estonian | Estonian: Olgu maailmas rahu | |
| Filipino / Pilipino | Filipino; Pilipino: Sana'y Manatili ang Kapayapáan sa Mundo | |
| Filipino; Pilipino: Kapayapaan sa mundo (shorter) | ||
| Finnish | Finnish: Vallitkoon Rauha Maailmassa | |
| French | French: Puisse la Paix régner dans le Monde | |
| French: Puisse la paix régner dans le monde | ||
| French: Paix sur la terre![24] (abbr.) | ||
| Galician | Galician: Que a paz prevaleza na Terra | |
| Georgian | Georgian: დაე იყოს მშვიდობა მთელ მსოფლიოში | |
| German | German: Möge Friede auf Erden sein | |
| German: Friede auf Erden![25] (abbr.) | ||
| Greek | Greek, Modern (1453-);: Εύχομαι να Επικρατήσει η Ειρήνη στον Κόσμο | |
| Greek, Modern (1453-);: Εύχομαι να επικρατήσει η ειρήνη στον κόσμο | ||
| Guarani | Guarani: Toiko Py'aguapy Tenondete Ko Arapy Rehe | |
| Guarani: Toiko py'aguapy tenondete ko arapy rehe | ||
| Hausa | Hausa: Zaman lafiya ta tabbata a duniya | |
| Hawaiian | Hawaiian: E Ho'omaluhia Me Ka Honua | |
| Hebrew | Hebrew: ישרה שלום עלי אדמות | |
| Hmong | Hmong; Mong: Kom kev thaj yeeb mauj rau ntiaj teb no | |
| Hopi | Tuwa kwatsi es looma eyesni | |
| Hungarian | Hungarian: Legyen béke a földön | |
| Icelandic | Icelandic: Megi friður ríkja á jörð | |
| Igbo | Igbo: Ka udo diri n'uwa | |
| Ikiribati | Gilbertese: Ke e teimatoa te rau i aonnaba | |
| Indonesian | Indonesian: Semoga damai di dunia | |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Irish: Go raibh síocháin ar domhain | |
| Italian | Italian: Che la pace regni sulla terra | |
| Japanese | Japanese: 世界人類が平和でありますように (as Masahisa Goi's handwritting) | |
| Kazakh | Kazakh: Адамзатқа бүткіл дүниеде бейбітшілік болсын | |
| Kikongo | Kongo: Nbota luvuvamo luakala mu nsy ya wonssono | |
| Kikuyu< | --Giguyu / Gekoyo / Agekoyo--> | Kikuyu; Gikuyu: Thayú v́iyv́re thiine wa thi yothe |
| Kikuyu; Gikuyu: THAYU UIYURE THIINE WA THI YOTHE | ||
| Kituba | Ngemba kuvanda na n'toto | |
| Klingon | Klingon; tlhIngan-Hol: tera'Daq taHjaj roj[26] | |
| Korean | Korean: 세계인류의 평화가 이룩되도록 | |
| Kurdish (Iraq) | ئاشتی بوهه موو جیهان | |
| Kyrgyz | Kirghiz; Kyrgyz: Дүйнөдө тынчтык болсун | |
| Lakota | Makasitomniya wolakota ni | |
| Makȟasitoniya wolakȟota ni | ||
| Unci Maka akan wolakota unkagapi kte | ||
| Lao | Lao: ຂໍໃຫ້ສັນຕິພາບຈົ່ງມີຢູ່ໃນໂລກ | |
| Latin | Latin: Regnet Pax Omnem Per Terram | |
| Latin: Pax in orbem praevaleat | ||
| Latin: Et in terra pax hominibus | ||
| Latvian | Latvian: Lai būtu miers pasaulē | |
| Lingala | Lingala: Kimia ezala na mokili | |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian: Tebūna pasaulyje taika | |
| Luxebourgish< | --Letzeburgesch--> | Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch: Fridden op de Äerd |
| Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch: Fridden mat allen Mënschen op der Welt | ||
| Macedonian | Macedonian: Нека мирот завладее на земјата | |
| Malay | Malay: Semoga damai di dunia | |
| Malagasy | Malagasy: Enga anie hanjaka eran'izao tontolo izao ny fandriampahalemana | |
| Malayalam | Malayalam: ഭൂമിയിൽ സമാധാനം നിലനിൽക്കട്ടെ | |
| Maltese | Maltese: Jalla l-paċi ssaltan fid-dinja | |
| Maltese: JALLA L-PACI SSALTAN FID-DINJA[27] | ||
| Maori | Maori: He maungārongo ki runga i te whenua | |
| Maori: Kia tau te rangimarie kei te whenua | ||
| Mapudungún | Undetermined: Ti anülen ta doyürpupe mapu mew | |
| Marshallese | Marshallese: Ainemon en bed ion lol in | |
| Miami | PEH-KO-KI-A A-KIN-KE-KWA-CI | |
| Mohawk | Mohawk: SKÉN:NEN KENHAK NÉ OHWENTSÁ:KE | |
| Romanian, Moldovan | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Fie pace pe Pământ | |
| Mongolian | Mongolian: ? | |
| Mongolian (Cyrillic) | Mongolian: Даян дэлхий энх амгалан байг | |
| Mungaka | Mboni Ma Cie | |
| Nauruan | Nauru: Enim mek iow eat eb | |
| Navajo | Navajo; Navaho: Nahasdzáán bikáaʼgi tʼáá ałtsogóó hózhǫ́ǫ dooleeł | |
| Nepali | Nepali: विश्वमा शान्ति फैलिरहोस । | |
| Norwegian | Norse, Old: Måtte det være fred på jorden | |
| Noongar | Coer nagal nyjininyj Ngulla Boodja | |
| Ojibwe, Odawa | ||
| Palauan | Palauan: A budech bol mesisiich era belulachad | |
| Pashto | Pushto; Pashto: تل دی وی سوله په نړۍ کښی | |
| Persian | Persian: برقرار باد صلح در سراسر جهان | |
| Pidgin | Pis mas istap long wol | |
| Polish | Polish: Niech będzie pokój na Ziemi | |
| Polish: Niech ludzkość świata żyje w pokoju | ||
| Polish: Pokoj na ziemi![28] (abbr.) | ||
| Portuguese | Portuguese: Que a Paz Prevaleça na Terra | |
| Portuguese: Que a Paz Prevaleça no Mundo | ||
| Portuguese: Que a paz prevaleça no mundo | ||
| Potawatomi | Nojma jag gégo gdokmeshen edjedéyag | |
| Quechua | Quechua: Kusi Kausay Kachun Kay Pachapi | |
| Quechua (Bolivia) | Quechua: Kay pachapi allin kawsay kachun | |
| Quechua (Peru) | Quechua: Tiqsimuyupi allin kawsay kachun | |
| Romansch | Romansh: Possia la pasch reger en il mund | |
| Russian | Russian: Да будет мир человечеству во всём мире | |
| Russian: Да будет мир на земле! (shorter) | ||
| Kinyarwanda | Kinyarwanda: Amahoro n'aganze kw'isi hose | |
| Kirundi | Rundi: Amahoro yosasagara mw'isi yose | |
| Samoan | Samoan: la malo pea le filemu i le lalolagi | |
| Sangho | Sango: Siriri a douti na ndo ti sesse | |
| Sanskrit | Sanskrit: पृथिव्यां शांति अस्तु | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Gum buadhaich sìth anns gach ceàrn dhe 'n t-saoghal | |
| Seminole | Creek: Hee-łom cho-bee po-baa-nom | |
| Seneca | Ja-wë-on Tha-yö-jeoK Yoë-dza-geh | |
| Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/Macedonian (Cyrillic) | Serbian: Нека мир завлада на земљи | |
| Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/Macedonian (Latin) | Serbian: Neka mir zavlada na zemlji | |
| Sesotho | Sotho, Southern: Khotso e be teng lefatšeng | |
| Setswana | Tswana: A kagiso e nne teng mo lefatsheng | |
| Shona | Shona: Runyararo ngaruveko pasi rose | |
| Northern Ndebele | Ndebele, North; North Ndebele: Ukuthula kube semhlabeni | |
| Sinhalese | Sinhala; Sinhalese: රී ලංකාවේ සාමය පවතීවා | |
| Sioux | Dakota: Wo' wa'hwa la ma'ka a'kan u'num'we | |
| siSwati | Swati: Kuthula akube semhlabeni | |
| Slovak | Slovak: Nech pokoj vždy vládne na Zemi | |
| Slovene | Slovenian: Naj mir zavlada svetu | |
| Somali | Somali: Dunidu nabad ha ku waarto | |
| Spanish | Spanish; Castilian: Que la Paz Prevalezca En La Tierra | |
| Spanish; Castilian: Que la paz prevalezca en la tierra | ||
| Swahili | Swahili: Amani na iwepo duniani | |
| Swedish | Swedish: Må fred råda på jorden | |
| Tagalog | Tagalog: Sana'y manatili ang kapayapáan sa daigdig | |
| Tagalog: Sana'y manatili ang kapayapaan sa daigdig | ||
| Tagalog: Kapayapaan ay maghari sa daigdig (shorter) | ||
| Tagalog: Kapayapaan sa mundo (shorter, with Spanish loanwords) | ||
| Tajik | Tajik: Барқарор бод сулҳ дар ҷаҳон | |
| Tamil | Tamil: உலகில் அமைதி நிலவட்டும் | |
| Tetum | Tetum: Dame ba mundu tomak | |
| Thai | Thai: ขอให้สันติภาพจงมาสู่โลก | |
| Tigrinya | ||
| Tongan | Tonga (Tonga Islands);: Fakatauange ke toka 'a e melino 'i mamani kotoa | |
| Tshiluba | Luba-Lulua: Bupole buikale pa buloba | |
| Turkish | Turkish: Dünyada barış daim olsun | |
| Turkish: Yurtta Bariş Dünyada Bariş (motto of Turkey;) | ||
| Turkmen | Turkmen: Дүнйәде парахатчылык болсун | |
| Tuscororan | Rih Wharaku Ahske-ne Ticunuwehne | |
| Tuvaluan | Tuvalu: Ke tumau te filemu ite lalolagi | |
| Twi | Twi: Asomdwoe nka wiasefo | |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian: Хай буде мир людству у всьому світі | |
| Urdu | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq|دنیا میں امن قائم رہے | |
| Uzbek | ||
| Vietnamese | Vietnamese: Nguyện xin hòa bình đến với toàn thể nhân loại trên thế giới | |
| Vietnamese: Cầu chúc hòa bình cho toàn nhân loại trên thế giới | ||
| Vietnamese: Cầu hoà bình cho toàn nhân loai tren thế giới | ||
| Welsh | Welsh: Mai Dangnefedd Prevail acha Briddo | |
| Welsh: Tangnefedd ar y ddaear | ||
| Wolof | Wolof: Na jàmm yàgg ci aduna | |
| Yoruba | Yoruba: Alàáfíà fún gbogbo àgbáyé | |
| Yugambeh | Duraiangah baugull gulli jagundah[29] | |
| (Language labels) | [English, French, ...] | |
| Music (score) | ||
| (Animal tracks / Paw prints) | [31] [32] (alligator, badger, bear, beaver, bison, bobcat, caribou, deer, dog, elephant, grasshopper, heron, kangaroo, mountain goat, opossum, otter, penguin, skunk, turkey, turtle, wild boar) | |
| (Human feet prints) | [33] [34] | |
| (Leaf prints) | ||
| (Dove with olive branch) | ||
| (Earth) | [35] | |
| (Voice recordings / Audio) | (audio in many languages)[36] | |
| (Audiovisual) | (video in many languages)[37] | |
| Amharic, Anishinaabe, Arabic, Aramaic, Armenian, Assamese, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Braille, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Catalan, Chinook Jargon, Chumash, Creole, Czech, Dari (Persian), Divehi, Dzongkha, Egbo, Estonian, Farsi, Gaelic-Irish, Gekoyo (aka Giguyu), Georgian, Guarani, Gujarati, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hindustani, Ikiribati, Irish, Javanese, Kannada, Klingon, Konkani (Goan), Korean, Kumeyaay, Lao, Latvian, Lenape, Lingala, Malagasy, Malayolam, Maltese, Manipur, Marathi, Marshallese, Menominee, Moldavian/Romanian, Nauruan, Nepali, Ohlone, Oneida, Oriya, Palauan, Pashto, Persian, Pidgin, PunjabiGurmukhi, Romanian/Moldavian, Sanskrit, Sesotho, Shomash, Sindhi, Sign Language, Sinharese (Sinhalese), siSwati, Slovak, Tai-Kadai, Tamil, Telugu, Tetun, Tibetan, Thai, Ticunuwhene, Tigrinya, Tongan, Tongva, Urdu, Yiddish, Yoruba, Zulu. | ? | |
| ? | ?--> |
Translation sources: https://web.archive.org/web/20170511155434/http://www.peace-pole.com/translations_for_peace_poles.htm or http://www-peace.sakura.ne.jp/pages/_Earth.htm
