Where did the peace sign and the middle finger come from?

Question

Where did the peace sign and the middle finger come from?

Answer 1

oh...it's from god...............at one time i met god in my garden,i was so happy and he ask me what i want..........I told him that,we'll swap positions.........and he showed me the middle finger.....

Answer 2

I don't know who started "the bird"... but I believe the Peace Sign (the first and middle fingers in the form of a V), has it's origins in V for victory.  If you are referring to the Peace Symbol though, I believe that comes from the ancient runic symbol for Algiz.

Answer 3

that's a good question..idk

Answer 4

I have been told that the peace sign is a broken cross[ the religious one}

Answer 5

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/2...

here ya go

Answer 6

The middle finger comes from the Napoleonic Era.  French troops on the war path would cut the middle fingers of their dead enemies off.  Then, to add insult to injury, they would give the middle finger to the conquered or enemy armies as they collected their dead.

The peace sign symbol was designed by Hugh Brock (some claim Gary Holtom... but Brock came before).  It was designed after a famous painting by Goya called, "The Third of May, 1808", where a Spanish peasant stands with arms and palms outstretched before a French firing squad in Spain upon Napoleon's invasion.

Answer 7

The two finger "Vee" salute dates from the 100 Years War (~1340-1440) and was used by British longbow man to taunt their French enemies.  The British longbow was the deciding factor in the war, so whenever the French captured a bowman, they cut off his two fingers!  The other Brits, even if they weren't bowman, soon picked up the Vee-shaped taunt.  Really!

The one finger salute dates from the American Revolution where so-called Patriots flashed a two finger (for two separate nations) recognition sign.  If the other person did not return the two finger sign, then they got...the one finger salute!  It was a way of cursing Tories, or persons against the Revolution.

Answer 8

the middle finger is your 3rd digit. the peace sign didnt come from george bush

Answer 9

well, let me start with the middle finger. In Elizabethan times, the most crude hand gesture was the flicking of the thumbnail from behind your teeth towards the "enemy".

This probably progressed into the "finger" as we know it today. The peace sign may have been a reaction to the middle finger? like "the finger? how about we make peace" and added another finger next to it.

Just a suggestion.