Editing V sign (section)

==As an insult==<!--If this section title is changed from "As an insult", then change the redirect [[V sign as an insult]]-->
[[File:Winston Churchill, cigar in mouth, gives his famous 'V' for victory sign during a visit to Bradford, 4 December 1942. H25966.jpg|thumb|Churchill was initially unaware of the offensive meaning of holding up his hand like in this gesture (1942).]]
The insulting version of the gesture (with the palm inward {{Unichar|1F594|Reversed victory hand}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2700.pdf|title=The Unicode Standard, Version 8.0, range 2700–27BF|work=unicode.org}}</ref> is often compared to the offensive gesture known as "[[the finger]]". The "two-fingered salute" (also "'''the forks'''" in Australia<ref>Tony Keim [http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/tradition-behind-the-bird/story-e6frer4f-1111118071016 "Long tradition of flipping the bird"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910220355/http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/tradition-behind-the-bird/story-e6frer4f-1111118071016 |date=10 September 2012 }}, ''Courier Mail'', 18 November 2008, accessed 14 April 2011.</ref>) is commonly performed by flicking the V upwards from wrist or elbow. The V sign, when the palm is facing toward the person giving the sign, has long been an insulting gesture in the [[United Kingdom]], and later in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and [[South Africa]].<ref name=V-sign-as-an-insult/> It is frequently used to signify defiance (especially to authority), contempt, or derision.<ref>Defiance, contempt or derision:
* Staff, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-vsign.html V-sign], [http://www.encyclopedia.com/about.aspx encyclopedia.com] cites The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2008 "Brit. a similar sign made with the first two fingers pointing up and the back of the hand facing outward, used as a gesture of abuse or contempt." Accessed 9 May 2008.
* Staff. [https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/latest/2007/12/20/hooligan-grandson-of-legend-115875-20260703/ Hooligan grandson of legend], [[Daily Mirror]], 20 December 2007
* Staff. [http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/2086046.vsign_led_to_assault_on_school_bus_teens/ V-sign led to assault on school bus teens] [[The Press (York)]], 1 March 2008</ref> It was known in Canada with the meaning "[[wikt:up yours|Up yours!]]" as late as to the [[Greatest Generation|generation which fought in World War II]], perhaps because of their familiarity with the [[V sign#Victory sign|Victory sign]] throughout the war years. However, subsequent generations seldom use it, and its meaning in this sense is becoming increasingly unknown in Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/permalink/post/12828083|title = Thorn Tree – Meaning of gestures in the USA and Canada}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/permalink/post/12833081|title = Thorn Tree – Meaning of gestures in the USA and Canada}}</ref>

As an example of the ''V'' sign (palm inward) as an insult, on 1 November 1990, ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'', a British [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]], ran an article on its front page with the headline "Up Yours, [[Jacques Delors|Delors]]" next to a hand making a V sign protruding from a [[Union Jack]] cuff.<ref>{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Philip|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/11/01/Tabloid-Sun-opens-campaign-against-European-union/7326657435600/|title=Tabloid Sun opens campaign against European union|work=UPI|date=1 November 1990|access-date=26 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Ponsford|first=Dominic|url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/sun-reprises-1990-classic-front-with-up-yours-senors-message-to-spain-over-gibraltar/|title=Sun reprises 1990 classic front with 'UP YOURS SENORS' message to Spain over Gibraltar|work=Press Gazette|date=4 April 2017|access-date=26 October 2021}}</ref> The article attracted complaints about alleged [[Francophobia]], which the [[Press Council (UK)|Press Council]] rejected after the newspaper stated that the paper reserved the right to use vulgar abuse in the interests of Britain.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wheeler |first=Brian |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4124328.stm|title=From two jags to two finger|work=BBC News|date=24 June 2005 |access-date=26 October 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Robbie paparazzi V sign.jpg|thumb|English singer-songwriter and entertainer [[Robbie Williams]] does the reversed V sign at a [[Paparazzi|paparazzo]] photographer in London in 2000.]]

On 3 April 2009, Scottish association football players [[Barry Ferguson]] and [[Allan McGregor]] were banned from the [[Scotland men's national football team|Scotland national squad]] for showing the V sign while sitting on the bench during the game against Iceland. Both players had been drinking alcohol in their hotel bar after a defeat to The Netherlands until around 11&nbsp;am the next morning, meaning that both of the players breached the SFA discipline code before the incident as well, but the attitude shown by the V sign was considered to be so rude that the [[Scottish Football Association|SFA]] decided to exclude those players from the national team.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/apr/03/barry-ferguson-allan-mcgregor-banned Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor banned for life by Scotland], The Guardian, Friday 3 April 2009</ref> Their club side [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]] fined both Ferguson and McGregor, and removed the club captaincy from Ferguson, as a result of the controversy.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/7981287.stm | work=BBC News | title=Scots end Gers pair's cap career | date=3 April 2009 | access-date=23 September 2023}}</ref> McGregor's ban was lifted by Scotland manager [[Craig Levein]] in 2010 and he returned to the Scottish national squad.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8876685.stm|title=Sweden 3–0 Scotland|date=11 August 2010|publisher=BBC|access-date=16 May 2011}}</ref>

[[Steve McQueen]] gives the sign in the closing scene of the 1971 motorsport film, [[Le Mans (film)|''Le Mans'']]. A still picture of the gesture was recorded by photographer Nigel Snowdon and has become an icon of both McQueen and the film itself.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Eoin |last=Young |title=From the archives - Eoin Young's first and last Autocar columns |url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motorsport/archives-eoin-young-s-first-and-last-autocar-columns |magazine=Autocar |date=2014-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Sheryl |last=Garratt |title=In the driving seat with Steve McQueen |url=https://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/steve-mcqueen/index.html |work=The Telegraph |date=2015-11-07}}</ref>

For a time in the UK, "a Harvey (Smith)" became a way of describing the insulting version of the V sign, much as "[[Word of Cambronne|the word of Cambronne]]" is used in France, or "the [[Pierre Trudeau|Trudeau]] salute" is used to describe the [[the finger|one-fingered salute]] in Canada. This happened because, in 1971, show-jumper [[Harvey Smith (equestrian)|Harvey Smith]] was disqualified for making a televised V sign to the judges after winning the British Show Jumping Derby at [[All England Jumping Course at Hickstead|Hickstead]]. His win was reinstated two days later.<ref>Staff [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/15/newsid_2534000/2534107.stm On this Day 15 August 1971: 'V-sign' costs rider victory] "BBC The infamous gesture won him an entry in the Chambers dictionary which defined 'a Harvey Smith' as 'a V-sign with the palm inwards, signifying derision and contempt'". Accessed 23 April 2008</ref> Harvey Smith pleaded that he was using a Victory sign, a defence also used by other figures in the public eye.<ref name=iocns>Staff. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081018230141/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/the-v-sign/biography/v-for-get-stuffed The V sign], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070623145709/http://www.icons.org.uk/about-us www.icons.org.uk]. Accessed 23 April 2008</ref>

Sometimes overseas visitors to the countries mentioned above use the "two-fingered salute" without knowing it is offensive to the natives, for example when ordering two beers in a noisy pub, or in the case of the United States president [[George H. W. Bush]], who, while touring Australia in 1992, attempted to give a "peace sign" to a group of farmers in [[Canberra]]—who were protesting about U.S. farm subsidies—and instead gave the insulting V sign.<ref>[[Webster Griffin Tarpley]] and [[Anton Chaitkin]] (2004). George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography, Progressive Press paperback edition (2004), p. 651(web link to [http://tarpley.net/online-books/george-bush-the-unauthorized-biography/chapter-25-thyroid-storm/ Chapter XXV – Thyroid Storm]). Tarpley & Chaitkin cite the [[Washington Post]], 3 January 1992.</ref>

===Origins===
A commonly repeated legend claims that the two-fingered salute or V sign derives from a gesture made by [[Welsh longbow|longbowmen]] fighting in the English army at the [[Battle of Agincourt]] (1415) during the [[Hundred Years' War]], but no written historical [[primary source]]s support this contention.<ref>David Wilton, ''Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends'', Oxford University Press, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-19-537557-2}}.</ref> This origin legend states that English archers believed that those who were captured by the French had their [[Index finger|index]] and [[middle finger]]s cut off so that they could no longer operate their longbows, and that the V sign was used by uncaptured and victorious archers in a display of defiance against the French. In conflict with this origin myth, the chronicler [[Jean de Wavrin]], contemporary of the battle, reported that Henry V mentioned in a pre-battle speech that the French were said to be threatening to cut off ''three'' fingers (not two) from captured bowmen.<ref name=BSH>{{Cite web|url=https://bshistorian.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/two-fingers-up-to-english-history/|title=Two fingers up to English history…|date=2 July 2007|website=The BS Historian|access-date=21 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k50254g|title=A collection of the chronicles and ancient histories of Great Britain, now called England. 2. From A.D. 1399 to A.D. 1422 / by John de Wavrin, lord of Forestel; transl. by William Hardy,... and Edward L. C. P. Hardy,...|last=Wavrin|first=Jean de |publisher=Longman|location=London|pages=203|language=en}}</ref> Neither Wavrin nor any contemporary author reported the threat was ever carried out after that nor other battles, nor did they report anything concerning a gesture of defiance.<ref name=BSH/>

<!-- Needs a reference (rather than a wikipedia page) with some expert suggesting that these are intentional hand signs. If confirmed, it needs to go in the victory sign section anyway
[[File:Religion saved by Spain.jpg|thumb|Religion saved by Spain, by [[Titian]]]]
Another early appearance of the sign is in [[Titian]]'s painting [[Religion saved by Spain]] commemorating the [[Battle of Lepanto]] created between 1572 and 1575. This is an allegoric painting, portraying Spain as a woman in a dramatic landscape, with a shield in her right hand and a spear with the flag of Victory in her left hand. Both her hands show symbolic V ("victoria") gesture.-->
The first unambiguous, attested evidence of the use of the insulting V sign in the United Kingdom dates to 1901, when a worker outside Parkgate Ironworks in [[Rotherham]] used the gesture (captured on the film) to indicate that he did not like being filmed.<ref name=icons>Staff. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081018230141/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/the-v-sign/biography/v-for-get-stuffed The V sign], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070623145709/http://www.icons.org.uk/about-us www.icons.org.uk web.archive.org]</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/I64ewblmTUY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140123231202/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64ewblmTUY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=Parkgate Iron and Steel Co., Rotherham (1901)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64ewblmTUY&t=58s|website=YouTube| date=10 July 2008 |publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=13 November 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[Peter Opie]] interviewed children in the 1950s and observed in ''The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren'' (1959) that the much-older thumbing of the nose ([[cocking a snook]]) had been replaced by the V sign as the most common insulting gesture used in the playground.<ref name= icons/>

Between 1975 and 1977, a group of anthropologists including [[Desmond Morris]] studied the history and spread of European gestures and found the rude version of the V-sign to be basically unknown outside the [[British Isles]]. In his ''Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution'', published in 1979, Morris discussed various possible origins of this sign but came to no definite conclusion:

{{blockquote|Because of the strong taboo associated with the gesture (its public use has often been heavily penalised). As a result, there is a tendency to shy away from discussing it in detail. It is "known to be dirty" and is passed on from generation to generation by people who simply accept it as a recognised obscenity without bothering to analyse it... Several of the rival claims are equally appealing. The truth is that we will probably never know...<ref name=icons/>}}