An attempt on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to break the unofficial world record for the largest human peace sign is just the start of a worldwide movement for peace, said Eric Butler, founder of World Peace Plan, the group organizing the Hono­lulu event.

After Monday’s 25th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade from Magic Island to Kapiolani Park at 9 a.m., Butler, 51, said he hopes to gather at least 6,000 people at Kapiolani Park to become the official Guinness world record-holder of the largest human peace sign, all in the name of world peace.

Alphonso Braggs, president of the NAACP Hawaii Chapter, said, "People are just asked to assemble after the parade and join in to make the peace sign. It’s an interesting idea."

Registrationstarts at 10 a.m., and the official photo of the peace sign is scheduled for noon.

The current unofficial world record for the largest human peace sign was set at the 2008 Ithaca Festival in New York with 5,814 people. The record is unofficial because Guinness World Records said it has not verified the feat.

After the event in Hawaii, Butler said World Peace Plan, a nonprofit working to end poverty and illiteracy around the world, plans to hold similar human peace sign events in other countries, including India, Japan, Brazil and Australia. Planning for an event in Mumbai has already started.

"This is going to be a historic event in Hawaii because this is the beginning here," Butler said. "We’re beginning a global movement. As soon as we get some global attention, we’ll be standing up for world peace everywhere."

The idea for the world record attempt came out of Butler’s desire to get students at Kaimuki High School, where he has served as PTA president and is currently treasurer, involved in a community activity.

"We were going to do a walk, but then it evolved," he said. "As it went along, it kept evolving and getting bigger and bigger. This is definitely much bigger than walking from Kaimuki to Kapiolani Park."

Butler, who is also director of the United Nations Association of Hawaii, said he’s confident at least 6,000 people will show up at the park, but also emphasized that it’s not really about the numbers.

"If only 600 people show up, that’s 600 standing up for world peace and that’s more important than big numbers," he said. "It’s not really about the record because that’s too easy to beat. It’s about people and what they believe."

World Peace Plan will also have a float with a 12-foot peace sign in the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and invites people to join.

"I really, truly believe in everything Martin Luther King stands for, but it’s not just him," Butler said. "It’s about anybody who lived and died standing up for peace."

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