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| This gesture was used during the Second World War to signify ‘Victory’, especially by Winston Churchill, and in this sense it can still be seen in news reports from conflicts all round the world and sport events. |
| In the 1960s, this gesture started being used by American, and later British, youth as the ‘Peace sign’ |
| If the palm is toward self, this gesture has an offensive meaning in Australia, UK, Ireland and New Zealand. To do it is to say “up yours!” |
| Some say that British archers in the Battle of Agincourt were so effective and so feared by their enemy that when the French captured an archer they chopped off the two fingers he needed to draw a bow-string. Bowmen who had not been thus disfigured took to holding up two fingers to taunt their enemies. |
| In 1992, then President George H.W. Bush made a state visit to Australia . People lined up along the roadside to welcome the American President who greeted them with raised fingers in the form of “V” with the back of his hand toward the onlookers. The following day a headline in a local newspaper proclaimed that the “American President insulted the Australians.” |
