The most popular meaning of the "V" sign was invented in 1941 by a Belgian, Victor De Lavalaye. Wanting a symbol for resistance to the Nazi¹ occupation, he came up with the single letter "V", which stood not only for his own first name, but also for English victory, Flemish virijheid, and French victoire. The symbolism of the sign spread very quickly, and Winston Churchill used it constantly in public appearance. Thus throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the gesture meant simply "victory".

 

The second meaning came in the 1960s. Because of its military implication, American antiwar protestors used the sign sarcastically² against the arms, so that it became known as the "peace sign". In the 1970s, the "V" sign, which had lost its military implication, was a common greeting among freedom lovers, acid heads, political radicals³, and ultimately, young people in general. So by about the middle of the 1970s, it ceased to give clue to the user's philosophy.

 

The third meaning is the oldest and least common. American children jokingly put "V", which resembles "horns", behind friends' heads in group snapshot. They are unknowingly reproducing something that southern Europeans would find highly offensive. This mischief⁴, called "horns of the Devil", is a variant⁵ of the European "horns" gesture, which is obscene. Here the "V" sign means "Your wife has been cheating on you" or, when placed behind another's head, "His wife has been cheating on him.

 

In the United States, the gesture is typically given with the palm facing the viewer. The British use both this version and an older, palm-backward version; the latter is obscene in American culture, and corresponds to the American "finger". Churchill got some surprised stares in 1941 when, evidently unaware⁶ of the vulgar usage, he gave the palm-backward "V" to British troops. In England today you could have to be a social hermit⁷ not to understand the distinction. Astonishingly, however, Margaret Thatcher⁸ repeated Churchill's error after her victory in the 1979 election.

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