What's in a name?
Le Petit Pigeon was inspired by the beautiful French idiom “petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid” which literally translates to “little by little the bird makes its nest”, but also may be interpreted to mean “every little bit helps”, or “with time and perseverance goals can always be accomplished”.
To me, it means “little and often make much”! Even the seemingly insurmountable may be accomplished when tackled bit by bit.
Why Pigeons?
Pigeons are amazing! They thrive all over the world, side by side with humans, and share a rich history intertwined with ours. As such, they’ve made appearances as iconic symbols in many cultures throughout history. Some cultures believe they represent the spirit, others love, but arguably they are most well-known today as a symbol of peace.
Peace Pigeons
“But wait!” you may be thinking, “isn’t the symbol of peace a DOVE?” Well… yes, and no. The bird we commonly picture when we picture the symbol for peace is a white rock dove, also known as a rock pigeon.
La Colombe by Picasso—an iconic image of peace—was modeled on a pigeon!
Why do we think of the white pigeon as a symbol of peace, and the classic pigeon as unremarkable or even a nuisance? This has always struck me as such an arbitrary conferring of value… based merely on feather color. My “peace pigeon” pins were created out of a desire to shift the way people view these intelligent and kind birds, no matter what the color of their feathers.