Guard Impact

Lore & Background

The term 'Flower Power' originated in Berkeley, California, as a symbolic action of protest against the Vietnam War. In a November 1965 essay titled How to Make a March/Spectacle, poet Allen Ginsberg advocated for protesters to be provided with 'masses of flowers' to hand out to policemen, press, politicians and spectators. The use of props like flowers, toys, flags, candy and music were meant to turn anti-war rallies into a form of street theater. In 1965, Sky Saxon of Californian rock band the Seeds began to use the term 'flower rock' to describe their music. Their manager DJ Lord Tim Hudson claimed to have coined the terms 'flower power' and 'flower child'.

In Their Own Story

The wind picks up off the highway, a low moan threading between the grey towers. The petal—no bigger than a thumbnail—tumbles end over end, catching a gust that threatens to slam it into the glass face of a parking garage. You ease the stick left. The petal tilts. The gust splits around it like water around a stone, and for one held breath the air is still. A scrap of paper, caught in the same gust, drifts past harmlessly. The petal rights itself, catches the updraft from a vent, and rises—slowly, gently—toward the rooftop where the other petals are waiting.

Reader's Guide

By late 1966, the Flower Power method of guerilla theater had spread from California to other parts of the United States. In May 1967, Abbie Hoffman organized the Flower Brigade as an official contingent of a New York City parade honoring the soldiers in Vietnam. In October 1967, Hoffman and Jerry Rubin helped organize the March on the Pentagon using Flower Power concepts to create a theatrical spectacle. Photographs of flower-wielding protesters at the Pentagon march became iconic images of 1960s anti-war protests. 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.

Did You Know?

• The expression 'Flower Power' was coined by Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965.
• A photo from the March on the Pentagon titled 'Flower Power' by Washington Star photographer Bernie Boston was nominated for the 1967 Pulitzer Prize.
• In December 1967, English journalist Peter Fryer published a glossary on hippie slang which defined flower power as 'from Flower Children or Beautiful People. Revolutionary philosophy akin to ideas of Young Liberals, e.g
• The iconic center of the Flower Power movement was the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco.