I can't verify that any of this information is correct. As for how
they see it. I would suppose they're so wrapped up with the easy to purchase/easy to apply merchandise they don't really think about it. Personally, I got the computer "cling sheets" and printed my own "Support our Troops/ Impeach Bush" sign to stick to my windows.
But here's the history I found on the internet (where else?).
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/%7Elcush/PeaceSymbolArticle.htmOne of the most widely known symbols in the world, in Britain it is recognised as standing for nuclear disarmament – and in particular as the logo of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). In the United States and much of the rest of the world it is known more broadly as the peace symbol. It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist and a graduate of the Royal College of Arts.
(snip)
Gerald Holtom, a conscientious objector who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the Second World War, explained that the symbol incorporated the semaphore letters N(uclear) and D(isarmament). He later wrote to Hugh Brock, editor of Peace News, explaining the genesis of his idea in greater, more personal depth:
I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.
Eric Austin added his own interpretation of the design: "the gesture of despair had long been associated with the death of Man and the circle with the unborn child."
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for the two finger peace sign, I found this blurb. Have to go to link for their embedded links
http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/g/gesture.htmPeace / "V" for Victory
This is the reverse side of "flipping the bird," made by lifting the middle and index finger with the palm of the hand facing the recipient (and the remaining fingers clenched). It was associated with the catchphrase "V" for Victory in World War II. In the 1960s, it came to be known as the "peace sign," the gestural equivalent of the peace symbol. It was associated with British prime minister Winston Churchill and U.S. president Richard Nixon. The sign also was famously misused by George H. W. Bush in Australia, where he intended to make the peace sign at protesters, but did it the "wrong way" causing great furor in the Australian tabloids. See also V sign.