Why Is the Olive Branch a Symbol of Peace?

Most people who speak of "extending an olive branch" today do not stop to think how old the gesture is. The symbol was in fact formed by at least three separate traditions layered on top of one another.

Ancient Greece: sanctuary and victory

In the Greek world the olive was the gift of the goddess Athena. In the story, when Athena and Poseidon competed for guardianship of the city, Poseidon struck salt water from the rock while Athena brought forth an olive tree. The city chose what was useful, and took Athena's name.

The symbolic weight of the branch came from there. In the practice known as hiketeria, a stranger or a fugitive seeking sanctuary needed only to carry an olive branch wrapped in wool; to lay hands on the bearer was an offence against the gods. The branch marked not disarmament or surrender but inviolability.

The same tree stood for victory too: winners at Olympia were crowned with the kotinos, a wreath woven from wild olive. Victors at the Panathenaic games received no money but large amphorae filled with oil from the sacred trees.

Rome: surrender and negotiation

In Rome the olive branch was a recognised way of signalling a truce or a request to surrender on the battlefield. Envoys and negotiators carried one. It was a sign acknowledged by both sides, meaning that its bearer would not be killed. In Latin literature the olive branch stands directly for suing for peace.

The flood narrative

The greatest share of the symbol's modern reach belongs to the flood narrative in Genesis. When the dove released as the waters recede returns, it carries a fresh Olive Leaf and Olive Leaf Tea">olive leaf in its beak — the sign that land has emerged, that the punishment is over, and that peace with the earth has been restored.

The pairing of dove and olive branch appears in early Christian art from the catacomb paintings onward. Over the centuries the two merged into a single emblem: the dove of peace.

Modern use

That inheritance survives in official emblems. The branches flanking the world map on the seal of the United Nations are olive branches. Many national coats of arms, medals and coins carry the same motif.

The line used by Yasser Arafat at the UN General Assembly in 1974 — an olive branch in one hand and a freedom fighter's gun in the other — shows how alive the symbol remains in political language.

Why the olive?

Probably because the olive tree stands for patience. It takes years to bear fruit; replacing a grove felled in wartime takes close to a human lifetime. A society with olive groves is a society that has planned to stay at peace for a long time. The branch is that calculation made visible.