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Flower power was a slogan used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and nonviolence.Stuart Hall, "The Hippies: An American Moment" published in Ann Gray (Ed.), CCCS Selected Working Papers, Routledge, (December 20, 2007), p.155 It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War.Chatarji, Subarno, Memories of a Lost War: American Poetic Responses to the Vietnam War, Oxford University Press, 2001, p.42 The expression was coined by the American Beat Generation Allen Ginsberg in 1965 as a means to transform war protests into peaceful affirmative spectacles. "Allen Ginsburg", American Masters, Public Broadcasting System, pbs.org, retrieved 30-04-2009Tony Perry, "Poet Allen Ginsberg Dies at 70", Los Angeles Times, April 06, 1997 embraced the symbolism by dressing in clothing with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair, and distributing flowers to the public, becoming known as .Rennay Craats, History of the 1960s, Weigl Publishers Inc., 2001, p.36 The term later became generalized as a modern reference to the hippie movement and the so-called counterculture of drugs, psychedelic music, psychedelic art and social permissiveness.Heilig, S., "The Brotherhood of Eternal Love-From Flower Power to Hippie Mafia: The Story of LSD Counterculture", Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2007, Vol 39; No 3, pages 307-308
In May 1967, Abbie Hoffman organized the Flower Brigade as an official contingent of a New York City parade honoring the soldiers in Vietnam. News coverage captured Flower Brigade participants, who carried flowers, flags and pink posters imprinted with LOVE, being attacked and beaten by bystanders. In response to the violence, Hoffman wrote in WIN magazine, "Plans are being made to mine the East River with daffodils. Dandelion chains are being wrapped around induction centers.... The cry of 'Flower Power' echoes through the land. We shall not wilt." On the following Sunday, WIN activists declared Armed Forces Day as "Flower Power Day" and held a rally in Central Park to counter the traditional parade. Turnout was low and, according to Hoffman, the rally was ineffective because guerilla theater needed to be more confrontational.Richard M. Freid, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!: Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold-War America, Oxford University Press, (1999), p. 141,
In October 1967, Hoffman and Jerry Rubin helped organize the March on the Pentagon using Flower Power concepts to create a theatrical spectacle.James J. Farrell, The Spirit of the Sixties: The Making of Postwar Radicalism, Routledge, 1997, p.223 The plan included a call for marchers to attempt to "levitate" the Pentagon. When the marchers faced off against more than 2500 Army national guard troops forming a human barricade in front of the Pentagon, some demonstrators held out flowers and a few placed their flowers in the soldiers' .Carlito Rivera, "The 1967 March on the Pentagon and lessons for today", Socialism and Liberation Magazine, March 2007, retrieved 26-09-2009
Photographs of flower-wielding protesters at the Pentagon march became iconic images of 1960s anti-war protests. One photo called "The Ultimate Confrontation" (by French photojournalist Marc Riboud), showed 17-year-old high school student Jan Rose Kasmir clasping a chrysanthemum and gazing at bayonet-wielding soldiers. Smithsonian Magazine later described the photo, which was published throughout the world, as "a gauzy juxtaposition of armed force and flower child innocence".
Another photo from the march, titled Flower Power (by Washington Star photographer Bernie Boston), was nominated for the 1967 Pulitzer Prize.Bernie Boston, "Flower Power", The Washington Evening Star, October 21, 1967 The photo shows a young man in a turtleneck sweater placing in the of . The young man in the photo is most commonly identified as George Edgerly Harris III, an 18-year-old actor from New York who later performed in San Francisco under the stage name of Hibiscus. According to writer and activist Paul Krassner, however, the young man was Yippie organizer "Super-Joel" Tornabene. Harris died in New York in the early 1980s during the early stages of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, while Tornabene died in Mexico in 1993.
On 10 December 1971, John Lennon, an outspoken critic of the war, appeared at a rally for John Sinclair, a political activist and founding member of the White Panther Party, who had been sentenced to 10 years for marijuana possession.The Beatles Bible, " John Sinclair". Retrieved July 30, 2019. He said, "OK so Flower Power didn't work. So what. We start again."Michael Epstein, director, producer and writer, (November 21, 2010) American Masters: LENNONYC, documentary film, (13:23 min). Public Broadcasting System (available U.S. only). Retrieved July 30, 2019.
By the early 1970s, the Flower Power anti-war movement had faded primarily due to the end of the military draft in 1972 and the start of American withdrawal from combat activities in Vietnam in January 1973.
A July 7, 1967, Time magazine cover story on "The Hippies: Philosophy of a Subculture", and an August CBS News television report on "The Hippie Temptation",Harry Reasoner, "The Hippie Temptation" , CBS News, August 22, 1967 as well as other major media exposure, brought the hippie subculture to national attention and popularized the Flower Power movement across the country and around the world. That same summer, the Beatles' hit single "All You Need Is Love" served as an anthem for the movement. On 25 June, the Beatles performed the song on the Our World international satellite broadcast, ensuring that the pacifist message reached an audience estimated at 400 million.
The avant-garde art of Milton Glaser, Heinz Edelmann, and Peter Max became synonymous with the flower power generation. Edelman's illustration style was best known in his art designs for the Beatles' 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine. Glaser, the founder of Push Pin Studios, also developed the loose psychedelic graphic design, seen for example in his seminal 1966 poster illustration of Bob Dylan with paisley hair. It was the posters by pop artist Peter Max, with their vivid fluid designs painted in Day-Glo colors, which became visual icons of flower power. (1990). 9780866568814, Haworth Press. ISBN 9780866568814 Max's cover story in Life magazine (September 1969) as well as appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Ed Sullivan Show, further established "flower power" style art into mainstream culture.
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