Not the most noticeable item in Storiels collection, this badge is very small – just 30 millimetres in diameter – but that does not lessen its importance as a social document. It’s probably very familiar to many Welsh people who grew up in the 1980’s, during the hey-day of anti-nuclear awareness and protest, I still keep mine in a box of old badges at home.
The campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was established in 1958 in response to the British Government agreeing to test thermonuclear arms. CND Cymru was established in 1981. By 1982 Welsh county councils agreed to ban nuclear arms from their areas.
CND Cymru – the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Wales – works, alongside other groups and individuals, to rid Britain and the world of nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction. They also campaign for peace and justice for humanity and the environmental, and against the arms trade.
The organisation is still relevant and active today, and organizes protests in places like Faslane in Scotland the width of Trident submarines, and also the demonstrations against the war in Iraq. Today CND Cymru has 1500 members and is still growing.