Editing V sign (section)

{{Short description|Hand sign (victory, peace or insult)}}
{{for-multi|the V sign of dermatomyositis|Shawl sign|the ∨ symbol|Descending wedge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox symbol
|mark=✌
|unicode= {{unichar|270C|Victory hand|html=}}
|see also = {{unichar|262E|Peace symbol|nlink=Peace symbols#Peace symbol}}<br />{{unichar|01F54A|Dove of Peace|nlink=Doves as symbols}}
|different from={{unichar|1F594|REVERSED VICTORY HAND}}
}}
[[File:Churchill V sign HU 55521.jpg|thumb|The [[British prime minister|British Prime Minister]] [[Winston Churchill]] is one of the first people to have used the ''V'' sign. (1943) It is often interpreted as indicating the word "victory" which was widely used when the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] won [[World War II]].]]

The '''''V'' sign''' is a hand [[gesture]] in which the [[index finger|index]] and [[middle finger]]s are raised and parted to make a ''V'' shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented.

When displayed with the palm inward toward the signer, it can be an offensive gesture in some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth nations]] (similar to [[The finger|showing the middle finger]]), dating back to at least 1900. When given with the palm outward, it is to be read as a '''victory sign''' ("''V'' for ''Victor''y"); this usage was introduced in January 1941 as part of a campaign by the [[Allies of World War II]],<ref>{{cite magazine |title=V for Victory: Celebrating a Gesture of Solidarity and Defiance | url=https://time.com/3880345/v-for-victory-a-gesture-of-solidarity-and-defiance/ |first=Ben |last=Cosgrove |date=4 July 2014 |magazine=Time (magazine)}}</ref> and made more widely known by [[Winston Churchill]]. During the [[Vietnam War]], in the 1960s, the "''V'' sign" with palm outward was widely adopted by the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] as a [[Peace symbols|symbol of peace]] and still today in the United States and worldwide as the "'''peace sign'''".   <!-- With the meaning "yeah", described below, I think the V in pictures is non-symbolic (perhaps "we're having fun" or "I'm so cool"?). Please correct if wrong-->