War is not healthy for children and other living things

"War Is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things" stands as one of the most recognizable antiwar slogans of the Vietnam War era, transforming from a small artistic statement into a powerful meme that defined protest culture. The phrase originated with Los Angeles artist Lorraine Schneider, who created the original artwork titled "Primer" in 1965 for a miniature art exhibition at New York's Pratt Institute (Kveller, 2024).

The artwork was constrained to just four square inches—two inches by two inches—and featured childlike script reading "war is not healthy for children and other living things" alongside a simple black and white sunflower (Peace News, 2025). According to multiple sources, Schneider's design was considered "too simplistic" and did not win the contest, yet it would become one of the most reproduced political graphics of the modern era (Political Graphics, 2023).

The transformation from artwork to meme began in February 1967 when fifteen women, including television writer Barbara Avedon, met at Avedon's Beverly Hills home to discuss taking action against the Vietnam War (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). This meeting led to the formation of Another Mother for Peace (AMP), and Schneider donated the rights to her "Primer" design to serve as the organization's logo. As Avedon later recounted, "I called Lorraine and asked if we could use Primer on the face of the card. She said yes, and one thousand cards became two hundred thousand cards" (Bonhams, 2025).

The meme's widespread adoption began with AMP's Mother's Day card campaign in 1967. The card featured Schneider's sunflower design on the front, with the message inside reading: "For my Mother's Day gift this year, I don't want candy or flowers. I want an end to killing. We who have given life must be dedicated to preserving it. Please talk peace" (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). The initial printing of 1,000 cards sold out immediately, and by the end of May 1967, 200,000 cards had been distributed to politicians including President Lyndon B. Johnson and members of Congress.

The phrase gained additional momentum when it was featured on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour a week before Mother's Day 1967, with viewers instructed to write for copies of the card—an act that incensed CBS executives but launched the image and slogan toward ubiquity (Bonhams, 2025). The meme's appeal transcended traditional political boundaries because, as Schneider explained at a United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in September 1972, "It had to say something, something logical, something irrefutable and so true that no one in the world could say that it was not so" (Peace News, 2025).

Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, the phrase became memetic in the truest sense—reproduced endlessly across different media formats by different people and communities. AMP's art director Gerta Katz incorporated Schneider's design into posters, flyers, newsletters, datebooks, buttons, cards, and jewelry, helping promote it into an internationally recognized symbol for peace (Political Graphics, 2023). The slogan appeared on bumper stickers, was embroidered on patches sewn onto denim jackets, adorned dormitory walls, and was distributed on leaflets at peace rallies across the United States.

The meme's power derived from its maternal framing and emotional directness rather than partisan political positioning. As one analysis noted, this helped the slogan "transcend class and political boundaries, finding sympathetic audiences not only at antiwar marches and sit-ins, but in suburban homes, college campuses, and church groups" (current entry, 2025). The aesthetic contrast between the gentle, hand-drawn sunflower and the stark realities of war being broadcast nightly on television news further enhanced its emotional impact.

While the meme's visibility diminished following the end of the Vietnam War, it has demonstrated remarkable longevity, resurfacing in modern antiwar movements and contexts. The design has appeared in protests related to conflicts in Ukraine, where the sunflower serves as the national flower, and in response to contemporary wars including the conflict in Gaza (Kveller, 2024). This continued relevance affirms the universality of Schneider's original vision and the enduring power of the meme she inadvertently created.