8. In an attempt to be friendly to a group of protesters in Australia, President George H.W. Bush unintentionally delivered the British equivalent of extending the middle finger
An understanding of foreign cultural customs and norms is an important aspect of international diplomacy, a trap President George H.W. Bush fell into during a visit to Australia in 1992. Believing he was being friendly and supportive to a group of peace protestors in Canberra, President Bush gave the “V-for-victory” or “peace sign” as he drove past in his limousine. Unfortunately for the elder Bush, he presented the symbol with his palm facing inwards, as is customary for the hand gesture in the United States. However, in the British Isles, and commonly also across the Commonwealth nations including Australia, the palm should face outwards to express peace, with the gesture presented by an inward palm signifying the same as an extended middle finger in American culture.
Apocryphally purported to have originated from the Hundred Years War, in reference to the victory of the English over the French using technologically advanced longbows and the practice of the French to remove the string-fingers of captured archers, it is believed that the English version of the gesture stems from the Second World War. Promoted by the allies to represent “V for Victory”, it was initially used with either an inward or outward facing palm. However, after the repeated use of the gesture by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with an inward facing palm it was increasingly interpreted in English society as a cleverly disguised insult to the Germans, inferring “Stick it up the Germans”.