Salute

Ordinary civilians also salute informally to greet or acknowledge the presence of another person, such as a tip of the hat or a hand wave to a friend or neighbor.

Depending on the situation a salute could be a hand or body gesture, cannon or rifle shots,[4] hoisting of flags, removing headgear, or other means of showing respect or deference.

[5][6] The US Army Quartermaster School provides another explanation of the origin of the hand salute: that it was a long-established military courtesy for subordinates to remove their headgear in the presence of superiors.

With the advent of increasingly cumbersome headgear in the 18th and 19th centuries, the act of removing one's hat was gradually converted into the simpler gesture of grasping or touching the visor and issuing a courteous salutation.

[9] During the Napoleonic Wars, British crews saluted officers by touching a clenched fist to the brow as though grasping a hat-brim between fingers and thumb.

The usual method is called "present arms"; the rifle is brought to the vertical, muzzle up, in front of the center of the chest with the trigger away from the body.

This originates from an old European tradition wherein a battle was halted to remove the dead and wounded, then three shots were fired to signal readiness to re-engage.

Protocol dictates that the monarch, members of the royal family, the governor-general, and state governors are to be saluted at all times by all ranks.

[13] On Remembrance Day, 2009, The Prince of Wales attended the national ceremony in Ottawa with Governor General Michaëlle Jean—both wearing Canadian military dress.

The French salute is performed with a flat hand, palm facing forwards; the upper arm is horizontal and the tips of the fingers come near the corner of the eyes.

[citation needed] In the German Bundeswehr, the salute is performed with a flat hand, with the thumb resting on the index finger.

The Indian Air Force salute involves the right arm being sharply raised from the front by the shortest possible way, with the plane of the palm at 45-degree angle to the forehead.

The RAF salute is similar to the British Army, the hand is brought upwards in a circular motion out from the body, it is stopped 1 inch (25 mm) to the rear and to the right of the right eye, the elbow and wrist are kept in line with the shoulder.

[30][31] In the British Empire (originally in the maritime and hinterland sphere of influence of the East India Company, HEIC, later transformed into crown territories), mainly in British India, the numbers of guns fired as a gun salute to the ruler of a so-called princely state became a politically highly significant indicator of his status, not governed by objective rules, but awarded (and in various cases increased) by the British paramount power, roughly reflecting his state's socio-economic, political and/or military weight, but also as a prestigious reward for loyalty to the Raj, in classes (always odd numbers) from three to twenty-one (seven lacking), for the "vassal" indigenous rulers (normally hereditary with a throne, sometimes raised as a personal distinction for an individual ruling prince).

Two sovereign monarchies officially outside the Empire were granted a higher honour: thirty-one guns for the royal houses of Afghanistan (under British and Russian influence), and Siam (which was then ruled by the Rattanakosin Kingdom).

In addition, the right to style himself Highness (Majesty, which since its Roman origin expresses the sovereign authority of the state, was denied to all "vassals"), a title of great importance in international relations, was formally restricted to rulers of relatively high salute ranks (originally only those with eleven guns or more, later also those with nine guns).

[32] Specifically, a proper salute goes as follows: Raise the right hand sharply, fingers and thumb extended and joined, palm facing down, and place the tip of the right forefinger on the rim of the visor, slightly to the right of the eye.

[36] They are also subject to their state military laws and regulations and render the same customs and courtesies as active duty, Reserve and National Guard personnel.

The federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police salute according to the British Army tradition with the palm facing forward.

Personnel stationed with the People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong salute using the Chinese military standards and similar to those used by the Royal Navy.

In the United States, civilian military auxiliaries such as the Civil Air Patrol are required to salute all commissioned and warrant officers of higher rank and return the salute of those with lower ranks of the U.S. Uniformed Services (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, PHS Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps) senior in rank to them, as well as all friendly foreign officers, though military members are not required to reciprocate.

The raised clenched fist, symbolizing unity in struggle, was popularized in the 19th century by the socialist, communist and anarchist movements, and is still used today by some people.

During the Martial Law years from 1972 to 1981 up to the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the "raised clenched fist" salute was done during the singing and playing of the National Anthem by some political and protest groups, especially opposition parties and activists.

[42] Beginning with Jacques-Louis David's painting The Oath of the Horatii (1784), an association of the gesture with Roman republican and imperial culture emerged through 18th-century French art.

[42]: 42–56  The association with ancient Roman traditions was further developed in France during the Napoleonic era and again in popular culture through late 19th- and early 20th-century plays and films.

[42] In a case of life imitating art, d'Annunzio appropriated the salute as a neo-imperial ritual when he led the occupation of Fiume in 1919.

In the United Kingdom, certain civilians, such as officers of HM Revenue and Customs, salute the quarterdeck of Royal Navy vessels on boarding.

The Defense Authorization Act of 2009, signed by President Bush, contained a provision that gave veterans and active-duty service members not in uniform the right to salute during the playing of the national anthem.

In the 1987 science fiction parody film Spaceballs, directed by Mel Brooks, all subordinates of supreme leader President Skroob salute him by first bending their forearms over their opposed hands, as though they are about to give him the arm of honor salute, but at the last moment, use their raised hands to wave him goodbye, rather than showing him the middle finger.

In the BBC TV science fiction comedy Red Dwarf, Arnold J. Rimmer continually performs an elaborate special salute that he has invented for the Space Corps.