Classic photo: Bernie Boston's Flower Power, 22nd October 1967

Bernie Boston (1933 – 2008) was an American news photographer. On 22nd October 1967 he photographed his most famous picture, "Flower Power", which featured a Vietnam War protester inserting flowers into the rifle barrels of soldiers guarding the Pentagon.

At that time, Boston was working for the Washington Star.

Anti-war demonstrators were approaching the Pentagon when a lieutenant marched a squad of guardsmen into the sea of demonstrators. The squad formed a semi circle, their guns pointed at the demonstrators. Then came the man with the flowers, who was later identified as teenage actor George Harris. He made a nonviolent gesture against the soldiers, who were braced for trouble as they faced 250,000 demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War.

"Flower Power" became one of the most reprinted pictures of the past 40 years, appearing in government textbooks and television specials about the era.

Someone commented: "Flower Power is one of those quintessential images. It sums up that period, how a lot of people feel about the '60s."

This photo was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize.