Who invented v for victory

It will be interesting to note whether it replaces the V-sign in the offensive gesture vocabulary. The V-sign formed with the palm away from the gesturer has had a number of meanings.

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Subscriber sign in You could not be signed in, please check and try again. In Belgium became an independent country. Today Belgium is a lot smaller and is divided into two big regions mostly based on the language they speak in that particular region.

In the north, there is Flanders where they speak Flemish Dutch and in the south, there is the Walloon part where they speak French. Almost in the center and between the two parts is the region of the capital Brussels. A secret medieval street in Antwerp. The Vlaeykensgang is a unique small street in the center of Antwerp.

Hidden between two busy Antwerp streets and close to the Cathedral. This medieval times street can easily be walked past unnoticed. Behind its meter-wide entrance, there is an oasis. A step into the passage with its quiet courtyards transports visitors back in time, back to the 15th and 16th centuries.

Picture by Harry Fabel Previously, the street was the domain of shoemakers, who had to sound the alarm bell of the Cathedral, also some of the poorest people of the city lived in that very small street. Now you will find antique shops, art galleries, and an exclusive restaurant, Sir Anthony Van Dyck.

There is a subdued atmosphere and the street is a popular place to listen to the cathedral's summer carillon concerts. The first public mention of the V-sign was in a broadcast on January 14, , by the Belgian Programme Organisers, Victor de Laveleye.

The feedback from Belgium and elsewhere was such that a general campaign was launched, later to include the V-sound in morse Churchill was publicly associated with the campaign for the first time in a broadcast message on July 18 or But in the opinion of Lawrence, the germ of the idea was Griffin's.

Incidentally, I have heard that later in the war Churchill - to the delight of the troops - would make the V-for-Victory sign and immediately convert it into the sweeping gesture telling Hitler to off. Can any eye-witness confirm this?

Anthony Rudolf, London N Before the battle of Agincourt, the greatest fear among the French was of the formidable English bowmen. In an effort to defuse the threat of the 15th century version of the cruise missile, the night before the battle they called across the lines, warning the English that any bowman captured the next day would have his first two fingers - those used todraw back the bowstring - lopped off.

At first light, the English archers assembled in sight of the French lines, brandishing threatened, now threatening, digits in a gesture which has since been used by Churchill in a similar spirit, but also by Harvey Smith and numerous footballers and cricketers in a spirit much closer to the original.