Salute

A salute is a gesture or other action used to indicate respect. Salutes are primarily associated with military forces, but other organizations and even general populations use salutes.

Civilian Salutes

While such gestures as tipping one's hat as one passed others on the street could be considered salutes, the most common civilian salute is rendered to the flag. In the United States, civilians salute the flag by placing their right hands over their hearts and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. (Men remove any headgear and hold it over their hearts, if applicable.) In Latin America, especially in Mexico, a salute similar to the United States military's salute (see below) is used, but the hand is placed across the left chest with the palm facing the ground. (For a demonstration, see the Richard Dreyfuss movie Moon Over Parador.). In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, civilians do not salute the flag, although some may stand to attention when the National Anthem is played, the flag raised or lowered, or the Last Post sounded.

Related Topics:
United States - Pledge of Allegiance - Latin America - Richard Dreyfuss - United Kingdom - Attention - National Anthem - Last Post

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Roman salute

The Roman salute is the right hand held flat, palm down and fingers closed, and raised at an angle of about 45 degrees. It was used by the Roman Republic, by armies of the Middle East and South America at various times. It was also the historical civilian salute of the United States, from about 1787 to 1934, known since 1892 as the Bellamy salute.

Related Topics:
Roman salute - Roman Republic - Middle East - South America - United States - 1787 - 1934 - 1892 - Bellamy salute

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When the Nazi party of Germany adopted the Roman salute from the Italian fascists, President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt instituted the hand over the heart as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem in the United States. This was done when Congress officially adopted the Flag Code on 22 June 1942.

Related Topics:
Nazi party - President of the United States - Franklin Roosevelt - 22 June - 1942

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Because of its associations with fascism, the Roman salute is now rarely used.

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Clenched fist salute

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The raised clenched fist was popularized by the Communist Party, and in some locations it maintains that association. In the United States, the raised fist was associated with the Black Power movement which does have some historical ties to communism and the Communist Party USA.

Related Topics:
Raised clenched fist - Communist - Black Power - Communism - Communist Party USA

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Greetings

Many different gestures are used throughout the world as simple greetings. In "Western" cultures, the handshake is very common, though it has numerous subtle variations of grip strength, amount of "pumping" involved, and use of the left hand.

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In many Asian cultures, a simple bow from the waist (rei in Japanese, panbae in Korean) is used, with many regional variations seen. The Japanese keep the palms of their hands touching the fronts of the thighs, but Korean men leave their hands straight down at their sides, while Korean women usually place their hands in their lap while bowing. A gesture called a wai is used in Thailand, where the hands are placed together palm to palm, approximately at nose level, while bowing. The wai is similar in form to the gesture referred to by the Japanese term gassho by Buddhists. The bow is not found in Chinese societies in daily life, and a slight bow is used only in paying respects to the dead.

Related Topics:
Bow - Japanese - Korean - Gassho

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In India, it is common to see the greeting ("Namaste") where the two hands (palms) are pressed together and held near the heart with the head gently bowed as one says, "Namaste." or "Namaskara" (or variations of the same, such as the Tamil "Vanakkam").

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The Arabic term salaam, literally "peace" from the spoken greeting that accompanies the gesture, refers to a low bow performed while placing the right palm on the forehead. Some cultures use hugs and kisses even between two men, but those gestures show an existing degree of intimacy and are not used between total strangers. All of these gestures are being supplemented or completely displaced by the handshake in areas with large amounts of business contact with the West.

Related Topics:
Salaam - Hug - Kiss

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These bows indicate respect and acknowledgment of social rank, but do not necessarily imply obeisance.

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Obeisances

An obeisance is a gesture not only of respect but also of submission. Such gestures are rarer in cultures that do not have strong class structures; citizens of the United States, for example, often react with hostility to the idea of bowing to an authority figure. The distinction between a formally polite greeting and an obeisance is often hard to make; for example, proskynesis (Greek for "kissing towards") is described by the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who lived in the 5th century BC in his Histories 1.134:

Related Topics:
United States - Herodotus - Halicarnassus - 5th century BC

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:When the Persians meet one another in the roads, you can see whether those who meet are of equal rank. For instead of greeting by words, they kiss each other on the mouth; but if one of them is inferior to the other, they kiss one another on the cheeks, and if one is of much less noble rank than the other, he falls down before him and worships him.

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After his conquest of Persia, Alexander the Great introduced Persian etiquette into his own court, including the practice of proskynesis. Visitors, depending on their ranks, would have to prostrate themselves, bow to, kneel in front of, or kiss the king. His Greek and Macedonian subjects objected to this practice, as they considered these rituals only suitable to the gods.

Related Topics:
Persia - Alexander the Great - Macedonia

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In countries with recognized social classes, bowing to nobility and royalty is customary. Standing bows of obeisance all involve bending forward from the waist with the eyes downcast, though variations in the placement of the arms and feet are seen. In western European cultures, women do not bow, they "curtsey" (a contraction of "courtesy" that became its own word), a movement in which one foot is moved back and the entire body lowered to a crouch while the head is bowed.

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More elaborate gestures of obeisance are used in formal conditions. The Chinese language term 叩頭 (literally "bump head", spelled ke4 tou3 in pinyin and "kowtow" in English) refers to the act of deep respect shown by bowing so low as to touch the head to the ground. The full kowtow begins kneeling and sitting back on the heels, with the hands on the thighs. The hands are then brought forward to the floor in front of the knees and the body inclined toward the horizontal. Whether or not the head is bowed as well reflects the degree of submission shown — in martial arts practices, for example, the neck is kept straight, but in religious ceremonies the forehead touches the ground. A slightly abbreviated version was developed for use outside and by armed guardsmen, who would flip their long sleeves down to cover their hands, drop to their left knees, place their right hands behind their backs and left palms on the floor in front of them while bowing their heads.

Related Topics:
Chinese language - Pinyin - Kowtow

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Many religious believers kneel in prayer, and some (Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and, rarely, Anglicans) genuflect, bending one knee to touch the ground, at various points during religious services. During Islamic prayer, a kneeling bow called sajdah is used, with forehead, nose, hands, knees, and toes all touching the ground.

Related Topics:
Kneel - Prayer - Roman Catholics - Orthodox - Anglicans - Sajdah

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