History Main / VSign

* Used extensively in Creator/AkiraToriyama mangas, including ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' and ''Anime/DragonBall''.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The character Didactylos in ''Discworld/SmallGods'' refers both to the offensive version of the V sign ("two fingers") and to the word "didactic". (Ephebe is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of classical Athens.)

[[quoteright:350:[[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nixon_resigns.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An ironic twist.]]

->''"V for victory, [[EveryoneKnowsMorse dot dot dot dash]]''\\
''[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] lost his little mustache''\\
''If you find it, let him know''\\
''And he'll give you lots of dough"''

Sometimes, a character, feeling victorious and all, just feels like yelling "VICTORY!", or [[HappyDance busting a few moves.]] But for one reason or another, they want a less ostentatious method to celebrate. In that case, they stick their middle and index fingers upwards, as if forming the letter "V". Sometimes, they'll do it with some exclamation, but not necessarily.

In Japan, the V sign can also signify that the person making it is being photographed. This pops up in anime quite a bit, sometimes accompanied by the character saying "V". May have been popularized as a result of the occupation after WWII.

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, when done with the palm facing inward, it is an offensive gesture — slightly less offensive than FlippingTheBird in the United States — sometimes known as "throwing the deuces" or "[flipping/flicking] [off] Vs".

During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill popularised its use as a "Victory" sign (for V as in victory) initially with palm inwards and later (once informed that inward was offensive) in the war palm outwards.

The palm-facing-outward version of the sign has also been used to mean "peace", especially by the 1960s/1970s counter-culture.

Contrary to popular belief, the "palm-inwards" version has nothing to do with medieval English (or Welsh, depending on the story) archers showing defiance. Maybe. Nobody really knows for sure, but it'd be cool if it was true.

A form of CrazyCulturalComparison. Compare VictoryPose and HappyDance, where someone wants to be a bit more showy with their celebration. For the single-finger version, see FlippingTheBird. Not to be confused with [[RockPaperScissors a certain OTHER two-fingered gesture]], though the two look the same.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Vash the Stampede is the poster guy of this trope in anime. He gives out the V-sign in addition to his [[LargeHam hammy]] line: '''[[CatchPhrase THIS WORLD IS MADE OF, LOVE AND PEACE]]!!''' It's a weird inverted version. He uses the same fingers, but crosses them. Presumably it is nonetheless of similar meaning.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ichigo Kurosaki does this when he sends a Menos back to Hueco Mundo after Uryu's little bait trick, complete with a yelled out "VICTORY!"
* Lina Inverse from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''.
* Japan offers to do this instead of smiling in ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia''.
* Yurika Misumaru from ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' practically debuts her day as a captain with this.
-->'''Yurika''': ''"I'm the captain of this ship, Yurika Misumaru! V!"''
* Nena Trinity from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' is prone of doing this almost all the time when she's in a good mood. She stops doing it for awhile after [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Ali killed her brothers]], but in the second season, she did it again after [[spoiler:screwing Wang's plan in a form of TakeThat]].
* Taken not as a hand gesture, but as a symbolic phrase in ''Anime/CombattlerV''. Usually used to get the spirit up.
-->''Believe in the sign of victory: V!''
* Ash of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' sometimes does this when he catches a Pokémon. Pikachu uses it too, though he has short little toes instead of fingers.
* In ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'' Hareta gave a V-Sign right after he [[spoiler:beat Mitsumi]].
* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', Gosunkugi (in the manga) or [[CanonForeigner Sasuke]] (in the anime) followed Ranma taking pictures in an attempt to find a weakness; once developed, Ranma is shown with the V sign at the camera, implying that Ranma knew he was being stalked.
* ''LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'' does this. Also, she seems to pronounce "V" as "vi" (rhymes with "eye") instead of "vee".
* Ringo Seto in ''Anime/KidouTenshiAngelicLayer'' gives this sign to Misaki before their match, and even says "V!". After the match, they get a photograph of both of them taken while both giving the sign.
* Played with in ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'', where Kinnikuman utterly fails at making the V-sign after an important victory. How do you screw something like that up? Well, you see, Kinnikuman's such a loser he's never had a reason to do it before.
* Misuzu from ''VisualNovel/{{Air}}'' uses it
* ''Manga/StrawberryMarshmallow'': When Miu sees it on TV, she wonders why kids always "do that finger thing every time they're in front of a camera". Nobue replies that they're "probably trying to get some attention". When she shows Miu a picture she took on her camera in which ''Miu herself'' is doing "that finger thing", Miu doesn't understand what Nobue is pointing out.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' examples:
** Minako is the primary user, both in [[Manga/CodenameSailorV her solo series]] under the identity of Sailor V and later as Sailor Venus. As her character is partially inspired by the 1968 volley manga ''Our Sign Is V'', she's likely to use it in the "Victory" sense.
** As Sailor V's number one fan, Usagi as Sailor Moon uses it too, often holding her hand horizontally across her face and looking through the V with her eye.
* Chris in the {{manhwa}} ''Demon Diary'' strikes this pose several times... after being pummeled into the dirt, causing Erutis to question, "Victory? On whose planet!?"
* Asuna of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', such as after she does a BigDamnHeroes moment for Negi in the climax of the Mahora Festival arc. Even back when she was an [[spoiler:EmotionlessGirl]], she was shown doing this after [[spoiler:demonstrating the [[YinYangBomb Kanka technique]] to Takamichi]].
* Ataru in ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' accidentally summons a demon called "Velial" (or Belial) by giving the V sign after winning a tennis match against Mendou. (In the Japanese version of the manga, Ataru even says "V sign" when he does this.)
* In ''Anime/HellGirl'' episode "Tragedy of V" [[spoiler: when drunks make the V sign in the background of a news report about the deaths of a mother and son, the father hunts them down, kills them and leaves their hands in the V sign.]]
* In the anime version of ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'', Kikumaru Eiji shows of his Keet-ness by doing about thirty of these in a row while jumping hyperactively around the room and posing for a camera.
* Hilariously, the agents of AEGIS in ''VideoGame/GateKeepers'' do the V-Sign with the palm inward (which, as mentioned above, is a rude gesture in the UK).
* V-mon from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' is named for and vaguely themed around the V-sign, although he doesn't often make it. Shoutmon of ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'' also seems to be themed around it, especially in his later Xrossed forms.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam''.
* Caro strikes this pose in ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'' after she and Corona managed to take down two members of the opposing team in a training battle. [[spoiler:Then Nanoha shoots her down. "[[CombatPragmatist Complacency over a small victory is a big no-no on the battlefield~!]]"]]
* The end credits of the first three parts of the ''Anime/BirdyTheMighty'' OVA series ended with the title character flashing this.
* ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'': Cure Peace frequently makes this sign throughout the series as a CharacterTic. Her EvilKnockoff, Bad End Cure Peace, makes this sign once right after {{Troll}}ing her.
* [[WorldsBestWarrior Yuuki Konno]] of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' fame uses this as her signature VictoryPose.
* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': Sakura does this at the end of the second episode, after capturing the [[CastingAShadow shadow card]].
* Manga/TigerMask starts making it often after developing his third FinishingMove, the Tiger V. He even [[LampshadeHanging calls it his sign]] when, during a match, his opponent commits a foul by forcing open his fingers, and follows up with this by [[CurbStompBattle quickly beating him into submission]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Inverted in ''ComicBook/VForVendetta''. The title pretty much says it all, but more specifically, the mockery of "V for Victory" is an underlying theme.
* In an issue of ''ComicBook/TheInvaders'', a MarvelUniverse {{Retcon}} UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ComicBook, a character's hand doing this is TheReveal that he's Sir Winston Churchill. Except that we (and the other characters) are seeing him from behind, so...
* In Creator/WarrenEllis' ''ComicBook/{{Crecy}}'' the main character is an archer who does this at the end of the book. This refers to the urban legend that the offensive V-sign came from the French cutting off the fingers of captured English longbowmen.
* In Creator/MarkMillar's first arc on ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'', the Engineer flashes the palm-inward version as an {{Expy}} of The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk [[ExplosiveDecompression exploded in space]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} in Britain'' Notax makes the V-sign after the Britons defeat the Romans alongside Asterix and Obelix.
* Very frequent in Peter Kuper's ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'' comics: many times, when one of the spies is killed, the other flashes the V while laughing and triggering the death trap.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Haruhi and Sakanaka to each other in ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'' as a symbol of victory, after Kyon and Haruhi return from a Student Council session discussing the fight between Kyon and Ryuugu Ryo earlier that day (Kyon acted in defense of a schoolmate). They decided not punishing nor rewarding Kyon for that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* On the poster for the film ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EscapeToVictory.jpg Victory]]'' (a.k.a. ''Film/EscapeToVictory'') Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/SylvesterStallone, and Pelé jointly make the "V" sign with their bodies. It's also used at the end of the film.
* In ''Film/ForrestGump'', Jenny gives it to Forrest before he leaves for Vietnam.
* The logo used by the back-in-business Ghostbusters in ''Film/GhostbustersII'' has the ghost making a "V" sign, which serves the dual purpose of being a TakeThat to the authorities that shut them down and [[PaintingTheMedium denoting that it is the second movie in the franchise]].
* In ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', one of the confiscated pictures Manning has of Hellboy is of him flashing the V Sign at the camera. He presents it with an exasperated "He ''posed'' for this one."
* Tony Stark from ''Film/IronMan'' does this a number of times, probably in memory of the soldier who asked for a photo in the humvee.
* Used in the poster image for the film ''Film/{{Mash}}''.
* In ''Film/IndependenceDay'', Captain Steven Hiller flashes the V Sign before firing a nuke to destroy the alien mothership. He also gets a PreMortemOneLiner: "PEACE!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The character Didactylos in ''Discworld/SmallGods'' refers both to the offensive version of the V sign ("two fingers") and to the word "didactic". (Ephebe is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of classical Athens.)
* Ron Weasley from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is [[NarrativeProfanityFilter heavily implied]] to do the rude version in one scene, as his mother threatens to jinx his fingers together if she sees it again.
* Likewise Chas in ''Literature/TheMachineGunners'' gives the reverse of UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill's famous gesture to a low-flying German bomber.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': [[http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t158/KurtSteiner/churchadder.jpg A Blackadder]] met Winston Churchill whilst he was doing this. He took it wrong.
* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', in the episode where Howard gets into an embarrassing situation with a robot arm, he programs the arm to respond to a snarky Sheldon comment, by having it turn to him and jerkily, but very obviously, making a finger-gesture. Sheldon asks if he means "Peace". Howard's reaction suggests he was aiming for something else (the controls aren't great).
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Spike does the palm-inward version and the WB censors [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar not only let it through]], they let it on the opening credits after that.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor does this in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks "Victory of the Daleks"]] while en route to meeting Churchill himself.
* Early in its run, ''Series/EastEnders'' managed to achieve notoriety after ending an episode on the palm-back variety.
* In the ''{{Series/Farscape}}'' episode "Look at the Princess", [[PopCulturedBadass Crichton]] mimics the Nixon double-peace sign [[TakenForGranite before he is about to be turned into a living statue]] to [[ItMakesSenseInContext commemorate his marriage into a royal family.]][[note]]Crichton [[CosmicPlaything being Crichton]], the statue doesn't end up looking quite the way he wanted it to.[[/note]]
* ''Series/TheGoodies'' create a UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill robot, who is seen in a newsreel giving the "Up Yours" sign to the troops before Graeme quickly turns his hand around.
* In one early episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', a suit asked young Barney Stinson to high five. Barney replies he only gives high two's, and shows him this V gesture.
* The skutter (maintenance robot) in ''Series/RedDwarf'' makes a similar derisive gesture to Arnold Rimmer after being provoked by a similar superior sneer. The books {{lampshade}} that their three-fingered claw seems to have been specifically designed for this.
* At the end of the ''Series/SquareOneTV'' sketch "The Mathematics of Love", Tony tells his band to "take five" while making this sign.[[note]]The sketch is about Roman numerals, thus the "V" has at least a double meaning: victory in successfully singing the song even though every number is written in Roman numerals and he didn't know them when he started, and V meaning 5, the number of minutes they should take a break for.[[/note]]
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
** ''Series/RescueSentaiGoGoFive'' had a V logo in a lot of places. Of course, it's hard to know if V means victory or roman numeral 5 (possibly both... in which case the name means [[OneTwoThreeFourGo Five Five Five]]. Which is Japan's 911, befitting the {{Rescue}} theme and making it possibly the most multi-layered sentai name pun ever.)
** In ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger''/''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'', the Pink Ranger's V-sign becomes a plot point (showing the others that she's only pretending to still be brainwashed. In the sentai version she continues to flash the sign every so often, while her power rangers counterpart drops it.) Perhaps due to the prevalence of the FiveManBand, the V sign shows up in many series of both versions.
* In ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' Malcolm flicks the offensive version to the journalists who gather outside his house after his sacking. He flicks another naughty V at Olly for not answering his phone.
* The miniseries ''Series/{{V|1983}}'' was named after this trope. The oldest Bernstein family member, a Holocaust survivor, teaches some kids in the streets the meaning and sprays the Visitors' propaganda posters with the symbol.
* ''Series/TheXFactor'' judge Louis Walsh got into trouble for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3AXZZyXEjU flicking a V at the audience]] during one of the live finals.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Used ironically on the cover of Music/{{Accept}}'s ''[[http://en.metalship.org/archives/albums/album10309.jpg Blood of the Nations]]'' album.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/JeffJarrett throws up the V-Sign with both hands at the end of his version of the Fargo Strut.
* This was pretty much the justification behind Nelson Frazier, Jr.'s gimmick when he became Big Daddy V (the "V" stood for "Victory," although it had originally stood for "Viscera").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]
* The palm-in version was the favourite gesture of permanently disgruntled showjumper Harvey Smith when meeting the press after a bad performance. The professional Yorkshireman was so associated with the two-fingered "go away, I don't want to be interviewed right now" gesture that for a while it was even ''called'' the Harvey Smith, or just the Harvey, in his honour.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'': "Worm Victory" is giving the "V for Victory" with all six of its hands in its card artwork.It even does this when it's a part of Evilswarm Az(z)athoth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/WildArms2'', after beating the boss in her prologue, Lilka Eleniak strikes this pose.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** Every time Mario gets a star in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', or completes a level in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld.''
** It was also added into the ''[[CompilationRerelease Super Mario All-Stars]]'' version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros.'' whenever Mario completes a level or goes down pipes. Heck, the V-Sign is one of Mario's trademarks - Although Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto [[http://cube.ign.com/articles/069/069250p1.html excised it from the series]] in the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] era to make Mario [[DarkerAndEdgier tougher]]. Mario has since stopped flashing the V sign but curiously, his brother Luigi has continued giving the gesture in later games. For example, whenever he gets a key in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' or as one of his taunts in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' ''[[http://38.media.tumblr.com/af0280dadc1af1a1b62e0bc74faef9d0/tumblr_mvcafyjVIz1sfztc2o1_400.gif Brawl]]'' and [[http://www.ssbwiki.com/images/b/b2/SSB4_daily_image_07-08-2013.jpg onwards.]]
** After nearly two decades of disuse, the V-Sign is brought back in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' as a reference to ''Super Mario 64'', where it's one of 3 possible hand gestures Mario does when he collects a [[MacGuffin Power Moon]].
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'': Mario, Mallow, and Toadstool get one of these as their victory pose after a battle (Bowser either clenches his fists or does a BicepPolishingGesture depending on region, while Geno just nods).
** The PETA parody ''VideoGame/SuperTanookiSkin2D'' has the titular Tanooki doing this in the ending for an ironic effect.
* Wario typically has his own versions of this: he holds up ''two'' Vs (overlapping them to make "W") or (as in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'') he holds up ''three'' fingers (again, to represent "W").
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'': Ness does it whenever he gets his picture taken by the RecurringTraveler photographer. Assuming he's alive, that is.
* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series:
** This is Chun-Li's VictoryPose in the "YATTA!"
** Cammy is making this gesture in the iconic poster of her.
* The box art of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has the palm-inward version; predictably, the UK version has a outward hand instead.
* Kid Ryu does this when catching a fish in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII''.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Victini is based around this.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', pleasing Pyukumuku in Pokemon Refresh causes it to spew it innards in this shape. In the anime, one even does this for Ash.
* "V for peace" - the irony of the 'V for Victory' also representing 'peace' - is a recurring {{Motif}} in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker.'' So is the palm-inward version, which is used symbolically by the villains [[spoiler: and by Snake when he decides to abandon his old ideals]]. The characters do just about everything the gesture can mean - holding it up to represent the ''two'' things required for nuclear deterrence, transforming the singular pointing finger (pressing the nuclear button) into the peace sign, even 'walking' two fingers along a surface to represent legs...
* The boss Kunino-sagiri in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' ''weaponizes'' the peace sign. His physical attack involves thrusting out his hand in this pose, and he flashes twin peace signs when he uses his "Unerring Justice" attack. He also has a halo that consists of several Y-shaped peace signs. [[spoiler:Kunino-sagiri is the Shadow of Taro Namatame, who has developed a messiah complex after spending the game abducting people and hurling them into the TV world under the mistaken belief that he's ''rescuing'' them from a serial killer.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Party member Ann will pop a peace sign as part of her splash screen VictoryPose.
* In ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'', Faith can do the offensive version. There's an achievement for doing it in front of an enemy.
* Cream does this in ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance 3''.
* Pit flashes one after defeating the BigBad in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''.
* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' features the flip-off version being used by the [[Music/{{Motorhead}} Killmaster]] and the [[Music/OzzyOsbourne Guardian of Metal]]. Justified, since they are based on (and played by) real people who have been known to do the same thing from time to time.
* ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'' has the boss Marishka, who's effectively the zombie embodiment of the 1960s. As such, she really likes making these.
* An animated cutscene in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' has Richter Belmont giving a peace sign while telling his name and occupation to one of the rescued captive maidens.
* The eponymous character of ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' and [[Videogame/RaymanLegends its sequel]] is fond of these, using one as part of his BigEntrance on each level.
* In ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'', Veemon does this as its VictoryPose after winning a battle.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsBX'' has Yuki [[BreakingTheFourthWall giving the player this]] following the credits.
* This appears to be King Dedede's signature logo in the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series, seeing as his back robe has a V sign, and the earlier games (particularly ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'') shows portraits of him doing just this.
* In ''VideoGame/BattleChefBrigade'', Mina Han punctuates each victory with a cheerful peace sign.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In the ''WebAnimation/BarbieLifeInTheDreamhouse'' episode "Mall Mayhem", a female extra does this while walking in on Barbie recording a ConfessionCam segment.
* In ''WebAnimation/MysterySkullsAnimated'' Cayenne can be seen giving the camera a cheerful v sign on the photo set as Arthur's laptop background.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* [[http://omaketheater.com/comic/31/ This installment]] of ''Webcomic/Friday4Koma'' plays with the double meaning of the palm-facing-outward V sign.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Chimneyspeak}}'', Elgie gives the palm-inward version to [[spoiler:Chelsea when she invites him to come with her on her quest to overthrow England's rulers]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Nightvee}}'': MKR is shown doing one on the first issue cover.
* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'': As he flees Gobwin Knob, Stanley [[https://archives.erfworld.com/Book%201/84 flashes the Nixon-style double-V]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/TheAutobiographyOfJaneEyre'': Warren forms a V sign in episode "Hijacked" (ep. 21) when he takes Jane's camera and shoots an impromptu video with Blanche. He pretends to snap [[http://youtu.be/WhBJISN2dKc?t=18s a selfie.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Commonly used at the end of {{Wartime Cartoon}}s. Often accompanied by the opening phrase of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which was used to represent V in Morse code (dot-dot-dot-dash).
* Starfire of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' does this once.
* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Action'', where Izzy does the V sign...[[spoiler: before she gets eliminated the second time.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' tend to do this at inappropriate moments whilst shouting, "Go team Venture!"
* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' Done in the intro as well as on the show sometimes.
* ''WesternAniatmion/TeamGalaxy'' Yoko does this in one episode after blowing up some spacecraft.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Apparently, Sir UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill did do it the wrong way around initially, until someone told him what it meant to the working classes. In fact he did it both ways round, arbitrarily at different times. It's been suggested that he knew what it meant, and had Hitler in mind when he made the gesture...
* UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, as seen in the picture above. Oddly used in that he did so after resigning from the Presidency rather than face impeachment due to Watergate.
* UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush faced his hand the wrong way doing this while on a state visit to Australia during his presidency.
* The overuse of the victory gesture (and, somehow, Vangelis' ''Conquest of Paradise'') by the guys who took power in Madagascar in 2009 has led to massive contentions - do it in front of the right people and you'll be smiled at. Do it in front of the wrong people and you'll eat knuckle sandwich (if lucky).
* Music/RingoStarr is fond of the V-sign.
* This pose is so popular in Japan it's been suggested (in jest) that Japanese women have a genetic predisposition to striking this pose if a camera is pointed at them. In what's probably a HypeBacklash, a MemeticMutation combines this with Ahegao,[[note]]said to be the facial expression of someone who is being fucked silly,[[/note]] thus associating the pose itself with sluttiness.
* Baroness Trumpington showed exactly how much she appreciated being described as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZv6WlH5kJk looking old in the House of Lords.]]
* British royals, notably Princess Anne, have made this gesture to press photographers perceived as getting too close and intrusive.
* Frequently utilized as a greeting by Quentin Tarantino when doing interviews or appearing at awards show functions.
* During the presidential elections of Mexico in the year 2000, then-candidate Vicente Fox made the V sign his trademark gesture, not only flashing it himself, but also depicting it on his political posters.
[[/folder]]
----

[[caption-width-right:350:An ironic twist]]

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, when done with the palm facing inward, it is an offensive gesture-- slightly less offensive than FlippingTheBird in the United States--sometimes known as "throwing the deuces" or "[flipping/flicking] [off] Vs".

!Examples:

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* The character Didactylos in ''Discworld/SmallGods'' refers both to the offensive version of the V sign ("two fingers") and to the word "didactic". (Ephebe is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of classical Athens.)

* The miniseries ''Series/{{V|1983}}'' was named after this trope. The oldest Bernstein family member, a Holocaust survivor, teaches some kids in the streets the meaning and sprays the Visitors' propaganda posters with the symbol.

* ''Series/RescueSentaiGoGoFive'' had a V logo in a lot of places. Of course, it's hard to know if V means victory or roman numeral 5 (possibly both... in which case the name means [[OneTwoThreeFourGo Five Five Five]]. Which is Japan's 911, befitting the {{Rescue}} theme and making it possibly the most multi-layered sentai name pun ever.)
* In ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger''/''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'', the Pink Ranger's V-sign becomes a plot point (showing the others that she's only pretending to still be brainwashed. In the sentai version she continues to flash the sign every so often, while her power rangers counterpart drops it.) Perhaps due to the prevalence of the FiveManBand, the V sign shows up in many series of both versions.
* In ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' Malcolm flicks the offensive version to the journalists who gather outside his house after his sacking. He flicks another naughty V at Olly for not answering his phone.
* ''Series/TheXFactor'' judge Louis Walsh got into trouble for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3AXZZyXEjU flicking a V at the audience]] during one of the live finals.
* Series/TheGoodies create a UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill robot, who is seen in a newsreel giving the "Up Yours" sign to the troops before Graeme quickly turns his hand around.

* [[http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t158/KurtSteiner/churchadder.jpg A Blackadder]] met Winston Churchill whilst he was doing this. He took it wrong.
* In one early episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', a suit asked young Barney Stinson to high five. Barney replies he only gives high two's, and shows him this V gesture.
* In the ''{{Series/Farscape}}'' episode "Look At The Princess", [[PopCulturedBadass Crichton]] mimicks the Nixon double-peace sign [[TakenForGranite before he is about to be turned into a living statue]] to [[ItMakesSenseInContext commemorate his marriage into a royal family.]][[note]]Crichton [[CosmicPlaything being Crichton]], the statue doesn't end up looking quite the way he wanted it to.[[/note]]

* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', in the episode where Howard gets into an embarrassing situation with a robot arm, he programs the arm to respond to a snarky Sheldon comment, by having it turn to him and jerkily, but very obviously, making a finger-gesture. Sheldon asks if he means "Peace". Howard's reaction suggests he was aiming for something else (the controls aren't great).
* The skutter (maintenance robot) in ''Series/RedDwarf'' makes a similar derisive gesture to Arnold Rimmer after being provoked by a similar superior sneer. The books {{lampshade}} that their three-fingered claw seems to have been specifically designed for this.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor does this in "Victory of the Daleks" while en route to meeting Churchill himself.

->''"V for victory, dot dot dot dash''\\

[[quoteright:350:[[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RichardNixonFarewell.jpg]]]]

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** Minako is the primary user, both in [[Manga/CodenameSailorV her solo series]] under the identity of Sailor V and later as Sailor Venus.

* In ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' Malcolm flicks [[CaptainObvious the offensive version]] to the journalists who gather outside his house after his sacking. He flicks another naughty V at Olly for not answering his phone.

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'': Ness does it whenever he gets his picture taken by the RecurringTraveler photographer.

* In Creator/MarkMillar's first arc on ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'', the Engineer flashes the palm-inward version as an {{Expy}} of TheIncredibleHulk [[ExplosiveDecompression exploded in space]].

* British royals, notably Princess Anne, have made this gesture to press photographers perceived as getting too close and intrusive.'

* The skutter (maintenance robot) in ''Series/RedDwarf'' makes a similar derisive gesture to Arnold Rimmer after being provoked by a similar superior sneer.

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[[folder:Comicbooks]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Film]]
* On the poster for the film ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EscapeToVictory.jpg Victory]]'' (aka ''Film/EscapeToVictory'') Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/SylvesterStallone, and Pelé jointly make the "V" sign with their bodies. It's also used at the end of the film.

* The miniseries ''Series/{{V 1983}}'' was named after this trope. The oldest Bernstein family member, a Holocaust survivor, teaches some kids in the streets the meaning and sprays the Visitors' propaganda posters with the symbol.

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

[[folder:Sport]]

* Minako uses it a lot as Sailor V and quite a bit as Sailor Venus in ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' and ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', Usagi uses it a fair bit as Sailor Moon too often holding her hand horizontally across her face and looking through the V with her eye.

* In ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'' Hareta gave a VSign right after he [[spoiler:beat Mitsumi]].

* Hilariously, the agents of AEGIS in ''VideoGame/GateKeepers'' do the VSign with the palm inward (which, as mentioned above, is a rude gesture in the UK).

* Wrestling/JeffJarrett throws up the VSign with both hands at the end of his version of the Fargo Strut.

** It was also added into the ''[[CompilationRerelease Super Mario All-Stars]]'' version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros.'' whenever Mario completes a level or goes down pipes. Heck, the VSign is one of Mario's trademarks - Although Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto [[http://cube.ign.com/articles/069/069250p1.html excised it from the series]] in the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] era to make Mario [[DarkerAndEdgier tougher]]. Mario has since stopped flashing the V sign but curiously, his brother Luigi has continued giving the gesture in later games. For example, whenever he gets a key in [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion the Cube's Mario launch title]] and it's even used as one of his taunts in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' ''[[http://38.media.tumblr.com/af0280dadc1af1a1b62e0bc74faef9d0/tumblr_mvcafyjVIz1sfztc2o1_400.gif Brawl]]'' and [[http://www.ssbwiki.com/images/b/b2/SSB4_daily_image_07-08-2013.jpg onwards.]]
** After nearly two decades of disuse, the VSign is brought back in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', where Mario occasionally flashes it when he collects a [[MacGuffin Power Moon]].

* Caro strikes this pose in ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' after she and Corona managed to take down two members of the opposing team in a training battle. [[spoiler:Then Nanoha shoots her down. "[[CombatPragmatist Complacency over a small victory is a big no-no on the battlefield~!]]"]]

* Kid Ryu does this when catching a fish in ''BreathOfFireIII''.

* [[http://omaketheater.com/comic/31/ This installment]] of ''Friday4Koma'' plays with the double meaning of the palm-facing-outward V sign.

* In an issue of ''ComicBook/TheInvaders'', a MarvelUniverse {{Retcon}} WorldWarTwo ComicBook, a character's hand doing this is TheReveal that he's Sir Winston Churchill. Except that we (and the other characters) are seeing him from behind, so...