V for Victory: The History of the "V" Sign for Victory and Peace

Imagine being in a crowd during WWII England and experiencing the ground-swell of emotion in witnessing Winston Churchill attempting to use a "V" sign for the first time when certain working classes in the region mistook it for something offensive. Well, such was the case with Churchill who had to be told to not use the "V" sign backwards (meaning the back of your hand facing forward when forming the "V") to give a universality to a new sign that would soon sweep the globe in being victorious over the enemy. This apparently wasn't the direct brainchild idea from Churchill himself. It came from the creative people at the BBC who were doing everything they could (while working in conjunction with PM Churchill) to rally the people who were still in shocks of fear from the Blitz the Nazis had inundated London with during 1940. By the beginning of the year, a sense of unity and defiance had to be accomplished--and the media would be the one who would ultimately make it happen.

In this campaign, the BBC had the brilliant idea of taking the "V" sign (already known in France as meaning "Victory" and "Freedom" in The Netherlands) and giving a physical sign people could use for solidarity in winning the war without having to use words. But Churchill used a lot of (eloquent) words first when speaking on the radio. His adamant radio speech in January of 1941 outlined the suggestion to use this hand gesture and championing the idea that everybody listening to the BBC overseas, especially, to do the same thing. It truly was one of the most brilliant war effort campaigns possibly ever and still holds as such to this day. It was something you didn't have to produce with money or something complicated that would entail too much explanation for millions of people. Holding up two fingers (in the right direction) was all it took to set Britons and most of Western Europe off on the right foot to overcoming almost impossible odds.