History Main / MilitarySalute

* In the ending of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0'', Rebecca and Billy, having [[FireForgedFriends come to respect and trust one another]], exchange a salute after Rebecca helps fake Billy's death. She also does it once or twice to Chris in the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'', since she a newbie to S.T.A.R.S. and he's technically her superior.

* In the ending of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0'', Rebecca and Billy, having [[FireForgedFriends come to respect and trust one another]], exchange a salute after Rebecca helps fake Billy's death.

Salutes are usually rendered by an officer (of equal or lesser rank than the salutee) or enlisted soldier to an officer of equal or higher rank. The officer, while not necessarily obligated to return the salute, almost universally does. Not returning the salute is a serious show of disrespect and condescension, which reflects poorly on the salutee. This also has another interesting effect: initiating a salute towards an officer of lesser rank or an enlisted soldier, while not considered insulting (generally), is considered weird and out of place. In the United States armed forces and the armed forces of those countries which award the Victoria Cross, there is one exception to this rule: if you are a recipient of the Medal Of Honor or the Victoria Cross, you WILL be saluted by any member of the armed forces, [[KneelBeforeFrodo regardless of rank]]. So yes, this means that badassery is worthy of saluting.

There are also situations in which saluting is NOT recommended. When in the field or in a forward operation base, soldiers are instructed not to salute, since it identifies the officer/VIP, which can [[StraightForTheCommander provide a sniper with an easy target]]. Most forces allow people operating vehicles to refrain from doing so if it would be unsafe to take their hand off the controls. Many forces find it inappropriate to salute when not in uniform; for example, in the US Navy if you are out of uniform you simply stand at attention instead of saluting in situations that normally call for it. Some sailors at stations on the bridge of British submarines are apparently exempted from standing up to salute in the presence of officers - even if the current ''Monarch'' happens to be present - because of the overhead hazards.

* '''Other High Ranking Civilian Officials''': Different countries have different customs, but generally speaking, a Head of Government, a Minister of Defense or a Governor, are often the among the limited number of high ranking officials who gets this kind of rare VIP treatment. Depending on the context, other officials sometimes get a salute, as a mere courtesy.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Being a SpaceNavy series, ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'' naturally has its fair share of salutes. Lt. Yamamoto is prone to the teary-eyed variety in certain cases, while episode 23 manages to make a mutual salute from opposing captains ''epic''. And then there's the ending of the final OVA, where everybody in ''both'' fleets salute the ''Soyokaze'' [[spoiler: as it's scuttled]] (this time, it's the [[GenkiGirl Hanner twins]] who are teary-eyed during the salute).

* ''Film/TheRock'' features this several times, but it becomes symbolic. First, it is tragic (saluting a burial detail), then it is a sign of respect and purpose, then it is [[spoiler: noticeably less and less present, until it is gone completely, signifying the breakdown of order and revealing the true nature of most of the terrorists.]]

* The ''Film/MasterAndCommander'' film has a plot point where a character failing to salute is flogged. Nagle not only refuses to salute Mr. Hollom, but he also bumps into him without so much as an apology. A military salute is crucial, whether you like the officer or not because it means you respect the rank itself, if not the officer. Nagle's deliberate insubordination was a very grave insult by the standards and he is punished for it, despite his own popularity with the crew. After the punishment, Hollom finds everyone saluting him, a situation he does not find comfortable, because it's clear that they're only saluting him out of fear of flogging, and not because he has earned their respect.

* Marines in ''Manga/OnePiece'' frequently salute their superior palm-inward. When asked about it in his SBS Q&A section, Eiichiro Oda explained that this was at one time actual naval practice to prevent showing tar-stained hands to their superiors.

* One ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' has him saluted by Kasteen and Broklaw (The Valhallan 597th's Colonel and Major respectively). He mentions in his narration that being ThePoliticalOfficer (and outside the chain of command), they don't have to salute him at all; it's just that [[HundredPercentHeroismRating he's unusually well liked for a Commissar]].

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'', in order to steal ZAFT's new prototype Freedom Gundam, Lacus Clyne dressed Kira up in the ZAFT pilot uniform and taught him their salute so that he could get past security.

* The [[UsefulNotes/{{Austria}} Austrian]] (and formerly [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austro-Hungarian]]) salute is similar to the mainstream Naval one, but otherwise distinct: the right hand's fingertips are laid flatly across the right eyebrow, with the elbow being kept relatively at the front. This results in the hand and arm partially covering the eye.

* The [[UsefulNotes/{{Austria}} Austrian]] (and formally [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austro-Hungarian]]) salute is similar to the mainstream Naval one, but otherwise distinct: the right hand's fingertips are laid flatly across the right eyebrow, with the elbow being kept relatively at the front. This results in the hand and arm partially covering the eye.

** This gesture was commonly ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_salute though mistakenly]]) believed to be an ancient Roman salute, which was why the Italian Fascists adopted it (and the Nazis took it from them). Expect to see it in films set in AncientGrome, especially if they were made before World War II. In fact, that gesture was originally the one used by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute American civilians giving the Pledge of Allegiance]], until the Nazis put it dead out of fashion, at which place it was replaced by the modern right-hand-over-heart gesture.

** Oddly enough, Mexicans uses ''both Nazi and American salutes'', when honoring the Mexican flag in both official ceremonies and schools. The American salute is used when singing the Mexican anthem and the Nazi one for honoring the flag. Unlike with the rest of the world, Mexicans doesn't see any problem using the Nazi salute, since it was used for years before World War II, albeit it doesn't prevent many people to lampshade that fact.[[note]]More than one Mexican kid went punished by yelling ''[[DudeNotFunny Heil Hitler!]]'' after honoring the flag.[[/note]]

* The ending of ''VideoGame/BatallionWars 2'' shows us different salutes of the armies in the game. The Solar Empire salute is the left hand raised to the chest, palm open and pointing up, followed by a short bow. The Western Frontier and The Anglo Isles share the same salute, similar to real life Britain. The difference is how it is carried out. The Western Frontier soldiers bring their hand to the forehead, before straightening their hand to a Roman salute. The Anglo Isles salute is the same, but in reverse (Hand straight to the Roman salute, then to the head). Finally, the Tundran Territories has the right hand closed to a fist, the arm straight forward before bringing it to the chest, held vertically. It should be noted that apart from the Solar Empire, all CO's do this salute with their right hand, while soldiers (who carry their weapons in the right hand) do them with the left hand.

There are also situations in which saluting is NOT recommended. When in the field or in a forward operation base, soldiers are instructed not to salute, since it identifies the officer/VIP, which can [[StraightForTheCommander provide a sniper with an easy target]]. Most forces allow people operating vehicles to refrain from doing so if it would be unsafe to take their hand off the controls. Many forces find it inappropriate to salute when not in uniform; for example, in the US Navy if you are out of uniform you simply stand at attention instead of saluting in situations that normally call for it.

* In an issue of the ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' manga, Edward Elric gives a left-handed salute because his artificial right arm was destroyed.

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' ''Die Neue These'', the Free Planets Alliance salute is somewhere between the French salute and British Army salute. The Galactic Empire uses a variation of the British Navy version.

*** In "/Recap/MashS6E2FallenIdol", when Hawkeye personally presents Radar with the Purple Heart;

*** In "Recap/MashS8E13CaptainsOutrageous", Hawkeye salutes the newly-minted Captain Fr. John Mulcahey.
*** In "Recap/MashS11E16GoodbyeFarewellAndAmen" both Hawkeye and BJ give a formal and fully military salute to Colonel Potter as a farewell, a sign of the respect they had for him.
** In "Recap/MashS3E24AbyssiniaHenry", Radar salutes the departing Col. Blake and holds the salute even after Blake returned it and as his chopper lifts off.

** One of the only non-mocking salutes Hawkeye ever gave was to Radar when he was shipping out - Hawk was busy in the OR but gave Radar a salute in lieu of the going away party that the casualties canceled.
** In the finale, BJ and Hawkeye give Col. Potter formal full salute with full attention as their final gesture to him before they depart their separate ways.

The Military Salute is a long-standing tradition of military forces around the world, and it is obviously the most visible and known gesture of military protocol to the average civilian. There is an urban myth that it evolved out of a custom in which mediaeval knights opened their visors with their weapon-hand to be recognised and to show that they were not armed; in fact it evolved from the former custom of men removing their hats as a sign of respect. This is the reason that in some military outfits (such as the US Marine Corps and Navy) it is incorrect to salute when you are not wearing a "cover". (In other outfits customs are different, and salutes are given when bare-headed; meanwhile, in many armies, including the Russian one, it is expressly forbidden to salute without a hat on) The salute evolved because of the introduction of headwear that could no longer be taken off easily with just one hand, especially bearskin caps and mitre-shaped grenadier caps. In the 18th century, when the military salute was first introduced, there were situations when it was still possible to give it with the left hand, e.g. on parade when the saluting officer was holding a spontoon in his right hand.

In the English speaking world, which here means the US and the commonwealth there are two types of salutes. The first, with palm facing outwards, is the "British military salute." This is used by the armies and air forces of most Commonwealth countries. Its origins are with the British Army. The other which is palm downwards, originating with the Royal Navy, is the British "Naval" salute (this was originally introduced because sailors' and officers' hands were often stained with tar through life aboard ship, and showing a dirty palm was considered to reduce the dignity of the gesture). This is used by the Naval forces of the Commonwealth and the US Armed Forces. This is often in popular parlance seen as an American salute, even in the commonwealth. There has been examples of nitpickers and scolds attacking works (or real life) where British or Australians are depicted as saluting palm downwards as an example of EaglelandOsmosis.

* '''Saluting with a rifle.''' Usually done by holding the weapon vertically in front of you, muzzle up, with the underside of the weapon presented towards the person being saluted.

There are also situations in which saluting is NOT recommended. When in the field or in a forward operation base, soldiers are instructed not to salute, since it identifies the officer/VIP, which can [[StraightForTheCommander provide a sniper with an easy target.]] Most forces allow people operating vehicles to refrain from doing so if it would be unsafe to take their hand off the controls. Many forces find it inappropriate to salute when not in uniform; for example, in the US Navy if you are out of uniform you simply stand at attention instead of saluting in situations that normally call for it.

* '''The Head of State'''. Often the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces, the Head Of State is the highest-ranked representative of the country, and is always to be saluted, regardless whether or not he/she is the real boss or a mere figurehead. This also applies to foreign heads of state on state and/or official visits.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' features this at several points; given that TheAlliance shares several similarities with the USMC and US Navy, the salute is American style. However, multiple times, they are shown saluting with their left hand, which is improper for pretty much every single military on Earth, which means it should be improper for a military force derived from those Earth militaries.