Hand Gestures Around the World: Same Sign, Different Meaning

People & Customs · Published 2026-10-10

A hand making the OK sign in front of a mountain under a cloudy sky — The OK sign, thumb and index finger joined in a ring: "OK" for English speakers and scuba divers, obscene in Brazil and Turkey.

Many hand gestures that feel universal are not. A thumbs-up is friendly in most of the English-speaking world and rude in Iran; the "OK" ring is obscene in Brazil and Turkey; a V sign made with the palm facing you is an insult in Britain. This guide covers the best-documented cases, and a few popular stories that turn out to be myths.

Why gestures vary

Researchers distinguish emblems, gestures with a specific, agreed meaning that can replace words (a thumbs-up, a wave, a finger to the lips for "quiet"), from the spontaneous movements that accompany speech. Emblems are learned, like vocabulary, so they differ between cultures just as words do. The zoologist Desmond Morris and colleagues mapped the meaning of 20 such gestures at 40 locations across Europe in the 1970s, in their book Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution (1979), and found that some gestures changed meaning across quite short distances, sometimes within a single country.

Gestures that change meaning

Thumbs up

In Britain, North America, Australia and much of Europe, a raised thumb means approval or "all good", and hitchhikers use a thumb to ask for a ride. In Iran, however, the gesture is a crude insult. Divers use it with a specific meaning: "I am going up" (end the dive and ascend), which is why diving instructors teach the ring-shaped OK sign for "I'm fine" instead.

The gladiator myth. The idea that Roman crowds gave a thumbs-up to spare a defeated gladiator and a thumbs-down to condemn him owes much to 19th-century paintings such as Jean-Léon Gérôme's Pollice Verso (1872). Ancient sources mention a "turned thumb" (pollice verso) but do not say clearly which way it pointed; some classicists argue the thumb raised or turned out meant death.

The OK sign (thumb and forefinger ring)

In English-speaking countries and for scuba divers it means "OK". It is considered obscene in Brazil and Turkey and an insult in parts of Europe. In Japan, a similar ring made with the palm up can mean money. Since the late 2010s it has also been appropriated online by some white-supremacist groups, a use that began as an internet hoax; in everyday life it overwhelmingly keeps its ordinary meaning, but context matters.

The V sign

With the palm facing outward, two raised fingers mean "victory" or "peace". With the palm facing inward, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the same fingers make an insult roughly equivalent to the raised middle finger. The "V for Victory" campaign began in January 1941, when Victor de Laveleye, a former Belgian minister broadcasting from London on the BBC, proposed the letter V as a symbol of resistance (for victoire in French and vrijheid, freedom, in Dutch). Winston Churchill adopted the gesture in July 1941; early photographs sometimes show him making it palm-inward.

The Agincourt myth. A popular story claims that English and Welsh archers invented the insulting V by showing the French at Agincourt (1415) that they still had their bow fingers. No contemporary source describes such a gesture, and historians treat the story as a modern legend. In Japan and other parts of East Asia, the palm-out V is a cheerful pose in photographs, with no rude meaning.

The open palm (moutza)

Pushing an open hand, fingers spread, towards someone's face is a traditional insult in Greece, known as the moutza. Visitors waving goodbye with a flat palm facing someone at close range can accidentally give offence.

The fig sign

A fist with the thumb pushed between the index and middle fingers is an obscene gesture in a number of countries, including Turkey, Russia and Indonesia. In Portugal and Brazil, by contrast, the figa survives as a good-luck charm, often sold as an amulet.

The horns

Index and little finger raised with the middle fingers folded: to heavy-metal fans it is a salute. In Italy and some other Mediterranean countries, pointed at a person it can imply that the person's spouse is unfaithful, a serious insult; pointed downward, a similar gesture is used to ward off bad luck.

Beckoning

In North America and Northern Europe people beckon with the palm up, curling the index finger. In Japan and much of East and Southeast Asia, people beckon with the palm facing down, waving the fingers towards themselves; the palm-up curled finger is considered rude, and in some places is used only for animals.

Nodding and shaking the head

Strictly not a hand gesture, but the classic traveller's trap: in Bulgaria, a nod traditionally means "no" and a shake means "yes", the reverse of most of Europe. In parts of South Asia, a side-to-side head wobble signals agreement or acknowledgement rather than refusal.

Practical advice for travellers

Watch how local people point, beckon and wave before copying your habits from home.
Pointing with an open hand is usually safer than pointing with one finger.
Remember that gestures also vary by age group and setting: a sign that is rude among older people may be playful among teenagers, and vice versa.
When in doubt, words and a smile travel better than any hand sign.

Quick quiz: gestures

Sources

Morris, D., Collett, P., Marsh, P. and O'Shaughnessy, M. (1979). Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution. Jonathan Cape.
Corbeill, A. (2004). Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome. Princeton University Press.
Wikipedia, List of gestures, V sign and Thumb signal (consulted October 2026).