What symbol of peace did Picasso design?

Picasso designed the dove of peace.

His best-known peace image is Dove, a black-and-white lithograph created in Paris in 1949. The work shows a simple white dove against a dark background and became widely known as “The Dove of Peace” after it was used for the poster of the Paris Peace Congress that year.

The image was selected by poet Louis Aragon, who visited Picasso’s studio on behalf of the peace movement. Picasso subsequently produced related dove images for several international peace congresses. The symbol became especially prominent during the early Cold War, when it represented pacifism, anti-war activism and, in some contexts, the Communist-led peace movement.

A common mix-up is the olive branch. Doves and olive branches are both ancient peace symbols, but Picasso’s specific contribution was a dove image without an olive branch. The model was reportedly a Milanese pigeon given to Picasso by Henri Matisse. The work also had a personal resonance: Picasso’s father had taught him to draw pigeons, and Picasso named his daughter Paloma, Spanish for “dove.”