This pen is identical to the one used when a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla was signed in 2016. The pen is made from a cartridge case of a bullet that was used in the long-lasting conflict in Colombia. It bears an inscription: “Bullets wrote our past, and education will write our future.” This is also what President Juan Manuel Santos said when handing the pen to the guerrilla leader Timoleón Jiménez.
The pen was designed by Christian Mondragón and created as part of a project led by Colombia’s Ministry of Education and the advertising agency McCann. The pen is a symbol of a shift in focus from military conflict to education.
Juan Manuel Santos donated the pen to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
Juan Manuel Santos wears a button with a dove on his jacket lapel daily. The emblem with the dove was designed for his wife in connection with his presidential campaign in 2010. The insignia is a symbol of the transition from conflict to peace in Colombia. When a peace agreement between Colombia’s government and the FARC guerrilla was signed in 2016, Santos gave an identical button to the guerrilla leader Timoleón Jiménez.
Juan Manuel Santos donated the button to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2016.
