As news of the coordinated terror attacks in Paris began to flood Twitter, Facebook and other social media, one image in particular was shared by those wishing to show their solidarity with the people of France.

Jean Jullien's "Peace for Paris" symbol - a black-and-white ink drawing of a peace sign with the Eiffel Tower at its heart - was, according to the artist, a "raw" reaction as he tried to summarise what had happened.

While he wasn't in France at the time, the drawing gave him a way to express his sadness and anger and offer support to his fellow countrymen and women.

Just after midnight in Paris on Friday night, he tweeted out the image which has since been re-tweeted over 50,000 times from New York to Sydney - appearing at memorials, on posters and t-shirts, even shoes - much to Jullien's surprise, and somewhat to his discomfort.

Peace for Paris pic.twitter.com/ryf6XB2d80

— jean jullien (@jean_jullien) November 13, 2015

The artist told US radio station NPR: "You know, it's putting me in a spotlight that I don't necessarily want to be [in], because I don't want to benefit from this exposure, in the sense that it's a tragedy, first and foremost."

Despite the attention, he's also glad if it helped other people "communicate their loss and need for peace, then that's what it was meant to be".

This is not the first time Jullien has responded to news in graphic form, he also created powerful images after the same-sex marriage referendum here in Ireland, and the massacre at Charlie Hebdo in Paris last January.