The Columbia Peace Pole Initiative, in collaboration with One Columbia for Arts and Culture, commissioned Columbia artist Eileen Blyth to create a unique, artistic version of a peace pole. The world-wide peace pole movement encourages the planting of poles on which the message “May peace prevail on Earth” is written in many languages.

The Columbia Peace Pole Initiative was formed to encourage the planting of peace poles around the city and the Midlands.

The peace pole movement, begun by the Japanese after the World War II atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has inspired citizens around the world to plant over 200,000 peace poles with the desire that nuclear weapons never be used again.

The eight-foot, CorTen steel structure proclaims “May peace prevail on Earth” in eight languages of raised, stainless steel lettering. The languages chosen for this four-sided Vista Peace Pole (Arabic, Catawba, English, Gullah, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese and Spanish) represent some of the peoples of South Carolina.

Artist Eileen Blyth included a bell in her design, saying, “The bell invites the viewer to come closer for examination, giving them a moment to reflect on the thought and a moment of peace. The gong encourages calm.” The bell falls from a slight overhang at the top of the pole; young and old can enjoy ringing it, the clapper inside producing a soft gong sound.