Roman salute The Roman salute ( Italian : " saluto romano " ) is a gesture in which the arm is held out forward straight , with palm down , and fingers touching . In some versions , the arm is raised upward at an angle ; in others , it is held out parallel to the ground . The former is a well known symbol of fascism that is commonly perceived to be based on a custom in ancient Rome . However , no Roman text gives this description and the Roman works of art that display salutational gestures bear little resemblance to the modern Roman salute . Jacques - Louis David ' s painting " The Oath of the Horatii " ( 1784 ) provided the starting point for the gesture that became later known as the Roman salute . The gesture and its identification with Roman culture was further developed in other neoclassic artworks . This was further elaborated upon in popular culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in plays and films that portrayed the salute as an ancient Roman custom . These included a 1914 Italian film called " Cabiria " based upon a screenplay by the nationalist poet Gabriele d ' Annunzio . In 1919 , d ' Annunzio adopted the cinematographically depicted salute as a neo - imperial ritual when he led the occupation of Fiume . Through d ' Annunzio ' s influence , the gesture soon became part of the rising Italian Fascist movement ' s symbolic repertoire . In 1923 the salute was gradually adopted by the Italian Fascist regime . It was then adopted and made compulsory within the Nazi party in 1926 , and gained nation - wide prominence in the German state when the Nazis took power in 1933 . It was also adopted by other fascist movements . Since World War II , the Fascist variant of the salute has been a criminal offense in Germany and Austria . Legal restrictions on its use in Italy are more nuanced , and use there has generated controversy . The gesture and its variations continue to be used in neo - fascist contexts . Early Roman sources and images . The modern gesture consists of stiffly extending the right arm frontally and raising it roughly 135 degrees from the body ’ s vertical axis , with the palm of the hand facing down and the fingers stretched out and touching each other . According to common perceptions , this salute was based on an ancient Roman custom . However , this description is unknown in Roman literature and is never mentioned by ancient historians of Rome . Not a single Roman work of art , be it sculpture , coinage , or painting , displays a salute of this kind . The gesture of the raised right arm or hand in Roman and other ancient cultures that " does " exist in surviving literature and art generally had a significantly different function and is never identical with the modern straight - arm salute . The right hand ( Lat . " dextera " , " dextra " ; Gr . δεξιά - " dexia " ) was commonly used in antiquity as a symbol of pledging trust , friendship or loyalty . For example , Cicero reported that Octavian pledged an oath to Julius Caesar while outstretching his right arm : Sculptures commemorating military victories such as those on the Arch of Titus , the Arch of Constantine , or on the Column of Trajan are the best known examples of raised arms in art from this period . However these monuments do not display a single clear image of the Roman salute . For example , three such scenes have been analyzed on Trajan ' s Column . On plate 99 ( LXII , Scenes LXXXIV - LXXXV ) , six onlookers have their hand raised to Trajan , half extended straight , half bent at the elbow . On the ones with straight arms , only one palm is open but held vertically . The fingers of the three with bent arms are pointed downward . On Plate 167 ( CII , Scene CXLI ) , three Dacians extend their right arms toward the emperor , their open hands held vertically and their fingers spread . None of the Romans are returning their gesture . On plates 122 – 123 ( LXXIV - LXXVI , Scenes CI - CII ) , the emperor on horseback is greeted by a unit of legionaries . None of the 15 legionaries is raising his entire arm . An officer facing Trajan has his arm close to his body , the lower arm raised , his index finger pointing up , and the other fingers closed . Behind him , two right hands are raised with fingers spread wide . Trajan himself holds his upper right hand close to his body , extending only the lower arm . The images closest in appearance to a raised arm salute are scenes in Roman sculpture and coins which show an " adlocutio " , " acclamatio " , " adventus " , or " profectio " . These are occasions when a high - ranking official , such as a general or the Emperor , addresses individuals or a group , often soldiers . Unlike modern custom , in which both the leader and the people he addresses raise their arms , most of these scenes show only the senior official raising his hand . Occasionally it is a sign of greeting or benevolence , but usually it is used as an indication of power . An opposite depiction is the " salutatio " of a " diogmites " , a military police officer , who raises his right arm to greet his commander during his " adventus " on a relief from 2nd - century Ephesus . An example of a salutational gesture of imperial power can be seen in the statue of Augustus of Prima Porta which follows certain guidelines set out by oratory scholars of his day . In " Rhetorica ad Herennium " the anonymous author states that the orator " will control himself in the entire frame of his body and in the manly angle of his flanks , with the extension of the arm in the impassioned moments of speech , and by drawing in the arm in relaxed moods " . Quintilian states in his " Institutio Oratoria " : 18th – 19th centuries France . Jacques - Louis David ' s painting " The Oath of the Horatii " " ( 1784 ) " provided the starting point for the gesture that became later known as the Roman Salute . The painting shows the three sons of Horatius swear on their swords , held by their father , that they will defend Rome to the death . It is based on an historical event described by Livy ( Book I , sections 24 - 6 ) and elaborated by Dionysius in " Roman Antiquities " ( Book III ) . However , the moment depicted in David ' s painting is his own creation . Neither Livy nor Dionysius mention any oath taking episode . Dionysius , the more detailed source , reports that the father had left to his sons the decision to fight then raised his hands to the heavens to thank the gods . Dominating the center of the " The Oath of the Horatii " is the brothers ' father , facing left . He has both hands raised . His left hand is holding three swords , while his right hand is empty , with fingers stretched but not touching . The brother closest to the viewer is holding his arm almost horizontally . The brother on the left is holding his arm slightly higher , while the third brother holds his hand higher still . While the first brother extends his right arm , the other two are extending their " left " arms . The succession of arms raised progressively higher leads to a gesture closely approximating the style used by fascists in the 20th century in Italy , albeit with the " wrong " arms . Art historian Albert Boime provides the following analysis : After the French Revolution of 1789 , David was commissioned to depict the formation of the revolutionary government in a similar style . In the " Tennis Court Oath " ( 1792 ) the National Assembly are all depicted with their arms outstretched , united in an upward gesture comparable to that of the Horatii , as they swear to create a new constitution . The painting was never finished , but an immense drawing was exhibited in 1791 alongside the Oath of the Horatii As in the Oath of the Horatii , David conveys the unity of minds and bodies in the service of the patriotic ideal . But in this drawing , he takes the subject further , uniting the people beyond just family ties and across different classes , religions , and philosophical opinions . After the republican government was replaced by Napoleon ' s imperial régime , David further deployed the gesture in " The Distribution of the Eagle Standards " ( 1810 ) . But unlike his previous paintings representing republican ideals , in " Eagle Standards " the oath of allegiance is pledged to a central authority figure , and in imperial fashion . Boime sees the series of oath pictures as " the coding of key developments in the history of the Revolution and its culmination in Napoleonic authoritarianism " . The imperial oath is seen in other paintings , such as Jean - Léon Gérôme ' s " Ave Caesar ! Morituri te salutant ( Hail , Caesar , those who are about to die salute you ) " of 1859 . In this painting , the gladiators are all raising their right or left arms , holding tridents and other weapons . Their salutation is a well - known Latin phrase quoted in Suetonius , " De Vita Caesarum " ( " The Life of the Caesars " , or " The Twelve Caesars " ) . Despite becoming widely popularized in later times , the phrase is unknown in Roman history aside from this isolated use , and it is questionable whether it was ever a customary salute , as is often believed . It was more likely to be an isolated appeal by desperate captives and criminals condemned to die . 19th – 20th centuries United States . On October 12 , 1892 , the Bellamy salute was demonstrated as the hand gesture to accompany the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States . The inventor of the saluting gesture was James B . Upham , junior partner and editor of the " The Youth ' s Companion " . Bellamy recalled Upham , upon reading the pledge , came into the posture of the salute , snapped his heels together , and said " Now up there is the flag ; I come to salute ; as I say ' I pledge allegiance to my flag , ' I stretch out my right hand and keep it raised while I say the stirring words that follow . " Because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the Nazi salute that emerged in Germany in 1920s , President Franklin D . Roosevelt instituted the hand - over - the - heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem in the United States , instead of the Bellamy salute . This was done when Congress officially adopted the " Flag Code " on June 22 , 1942 . There was initially some resistance to dropping the Bellamy salute , for example from the Daughters of the American Revolution . Early 20th century in theatre and film . The gesture , already established in the United States through the Bellamy salute , has been traced to the Broadway production of the play " Ben - Hur " . The play , based on Lew Wallace ' s book " " , opened on Broadway in November , 1899 and proved to be a great success . Photographs show several scenes using the gesture , including one of Ben - Hur greeting a seated sheik and another of a small crowd so greeting Ben - Hur in his chariot . Neither Wallace ' s novel nor text for the theatrical production mentions a raised arm salute . The salute was evidently added in keeping with the exaggerated style of acting in 19th century theater , which in turn influenced acting in the silent cinema . The salute frequently occurs in early 20th century films set in antiquity , such as the American " Ben - Hur ( 1907 ) " and the Italian " Nerone " ( 1908 ) , although such films do not yet standardize it or make it exclusively Roman . In " Spartaco " ( 1914 ) , even the slave Spartacus uses it . Later examples appear in " Ben - Hur " ( 1925 ) and in Cecil B . DeMille ’ s " Sign of the Cross " ( 1932 ) and " Cleopatra " ( 1934 ) , although the execution of the gesture is still variable . Of special note is the use in Giovanni Pastrone ’ s colossal epic " Cabiria " ( 1914 ) . The screenplay was attributed to Italian nationalist Gabriele d ' Annunzio , who was known as the " poet - warrior " . Inspired by the Italo - Turkish War , in which Italy conquered the North African Ottoman province of Tripolitania , Pastrone perused a politically volatile issue . The film highlights Italy ' s Roman past and the " monstrous " nature of Carthaginian society , which is contrasted with the " nobility " of Roman society . " Cabiria " was one of several films of the period that " helped resuscitate a distant history that legitimized Italy ' s past and inspired its dreams " and which " delivered the spirit for conquest that seemed to arrive from the distant past " , thereby presaging the " political rituals of fascism " , " thanks . . . to its prime supporter and apostle , Gabriele d ' Annunzio . " Variations on the salute occur throughout " Cabiria " on the part of Romans and Africans . Scipio uses the gesture once . Fulvius Axilla , the story ' s fictitious hero , twice employs it as a farewell greeting to his hosts . The Numidian king Massinissa , guest of the Carthaginian Hasdrubal , raises his right hand and is so greeted in return , once by the strongman Maciste . Princess Sophonisba and King Syphax mutually great each other by raising their hands and declining their bodies . The diversity of the gesture and the variety of nationalities who use it in " Cabria " is seen as further evidence that the salute is a modern invention , used in the film to highlight the exotic nature of antiquity . 20th century adoption by Fascists . Italy . D ' Annunzio , who had scripted " Cabiria " , appropriated the salute when he occupied Fiume in 1919 . D ' Annunzio has been described as the John the Baptist of Italian Fascism , as virtually the entire ritual of Fascism was invented by D ' Annunzio during his occupation of Fiume and his leadership of the " Italian Regency of Carnaro " . Besides the Roman salute , these included the balcony address , the cries of " " ! " " , the dramatic and rhetorical dialogues with the crowd , and the use of religious symbols in new secular settings . Like other neo - Imperial rituals utilized by D ' Annunzio , the salute became part of the Italian fascist movement ' s symbolic repertoire . On January 31 , 1923 , the Ministry of Education instituted a ritual honoring the flag in schools using the Roman salute . In 1925 , as Mussolini began his fascitization of the state , the salute was gradually adopted by the regime , and by December 1 , 1925 all state civil administrators were required to use it . Achille Starace , the Italian Fascist Party secretary , pushed for measures to make the use of the Roman salute generally compulsory , denouncing hand shaking as bourgeois . He further extolled the salute as " more hygienic , more aesthetic , and shorter . " He also suggested that the Roman salute did not imply the necessity of taking off the hat unless one was indoors . By 1932 , the salute was adopted as the substitute for the handshake . On August 19 , 1933 the military was ordered to use the salute whenever an unarmed detachment of soldiers was called on to render military honors for the King or Mussolini . The symbolic value of the gesture grew , and it was felt that the proper salute " had the effect of showing the fascist man ' s decisive spirit , which was close to that of ancient Rome " . The salute was seen to demonstrate the fascist ' s " decisive spirit , firmness , seriousness , and acknowledgment and acceptance of the regime ' s hierarchical structure " . It was further felt that the correct physical gesture brought forth a change in character . The bourgeois gesture was supposed to disappear from the view of Italians and not contaminate their daily life . In 1938 , the party abolished handshaking in films and theater , and on November 21 , 1938 the Ministry of Popular Culture issued orders banning the publishing of photographs showing people shaking hands . Even official photographs of visiting dignitaries were retouched to remove the image of their handshaking . Germany . In Germany , the salute , sporadically used by the Nazi Party ( NSDAP ) since 1923 , was made compulsory within the movement in 1926 . Called the Hitler salute ( " Hitlergruß " ) , it functioned both as an expression of commitment within the party and as a demonstrative statement to the outside world . Yet in spite of this demand for the outward display of obedience , the drive to gain acceptance did not go unchallenged , even within the movement . Early objections focused on its resemblance to the Roman salute employed by Fascist Italy , and hence on it not being Germanic . In response , efforts were made to establish its pedigree and invent a proper tradition after the fact . The compulsory use of the Hitler salute for all public employees followed a directive issued by Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick on July 13 , 1933 , one day before the ban on all non - Nazi parties . The Wehrmacht refused to adopt the Hitler salute and was able for a time to maintain its own customs . The military were required to use the Hitler salute only while singing the Horst Wessel Lied and German national anthem , and in non - military encounters such as greeting members of the civilian government . Only after the July 20 Plot in 1944 were the military forces of the Third Reich ordered to replace the standard military salute with the Hitler salute . Elsewhere . Similar forms of salutes were adopted by various groups . Its use in France dates back to 1925 , when the " Jeunesses Patriotes ( Patriotic Youth ) " , a movement led by Pierre Taittinger , would give the fascist salute at meetings while shouting " Dictatorship ! " . Marcel Bucard ' s " Mouvement Franciste , " founded in September 1933 adopted the salute as well donning blue shirts and blue berets . François Coty ' s " Solidarité Française " used the salute as well , though its leaders denied the movement was fascist . By 1937 , rivalry amongst French right wing parties sometimes caused confusion over salutes . The Parti Populaire Français , generally regarded as the most pro - Nazi of France ' s collaborationist parties , adopted a variant of the salute that distinguished itself from others by slightly bending the hand and holding it at face level . In the early 1930s , the salute was used by members of the Estonian nationalist right wing Vaps Movement , as well as the Brazilian Integralism movement , who used to salute by raising one arm . The Brazilian form of the Salute was called " Anauê " – a word used as a salutation and as a cry by the Brazilian indigenous Tupi people , meaning " you are my brother " . When the 4th of August Regime took power in Greece with the coup by Ioannis Metaxas in 1936 , among the fascist traditions to be adopted by the regime was the fascist salute , which became the official way of saluting officials . It was first adopted by the National Youth Organization , but was later adopted by others within the government as well as common people in support of the regime . In Spain , on April 27 , 1937 , Francisco Franco formally approved the salute in a decree which made it the official salutation to be used by all except the military who would continue to use the traditional military salutes . This was repealed in September 1945 . After a meeting with Mussolini , in December 1937 , Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Stojadinović adopted a version of the salute as he took to styling himself as " Vodja ( Leader ) " . On January 4 , 1939 , the salute of raising one arm was adopted in Romania under a statute promulgating the Romanian Front of National Rebirth . In Slovakia , the Hlinka Guard ' s " Na stráž ! " ( On guard ! ) consisted of a half - hearted compromise between a friendly wave and salute with a straight raised arm . Post World War II . Italy . Fascist symbols are banned by the postwar Italian Constitution . Specifically , the constitution forbids the reconstitution of the fascist party . According to the Scelba Law , passed June 20 , 1952 , such a reconstitution occurs when five or more people support undemocratic goals . On June 25 , 1993 the Mancino law extended the prohibition to all forms of racial , ethnic , and religious discrimination . Public demonstrations , meetings , and publications of such a kind are banned . Sanctions include being barred from sporting events , and suspension of drivers licenses and passports . These laws , however , are difficult to enforce and seldom used . The salute has been used many times by prominent individuals as well as the masses since the war . After being released from an insane asylum in the United States , famed poet Ezra Pound returned to Italy in July , 1958 and hailed his adopted country with the fascist salute . The salute was on display in the 1968 funeral for Mussolini ' s youngest daughter , Mrs Anna Maria Mussolini Negri . When the Italian Social Movement had its greatest electoral gains since the Second World War in June , 1971 , crowds at the party headquarters cheered and gave the outstretched arm salute . On July 29 , 1983 , on the 100th anniversary of Mussolini ' s birth , thousands of black - shirted supporters chanted " DUCE ! DUCE ! " with their arms raised in the fascist salute on a march from his native village of Predappio in Romagna to the cemetery where he was buried . On the eve of Silvio Berlusconi ' s election victory in 1994 , young supporters of Gianfranco Fini made the fascist salute while chanting " Duce ! Duce ! " In 2005 , Italian footballer Paolo Di Canio created controversy by twice using the gesture to salute S . S . Lazio fans , first in a match against arch rivals A . S . Roma ( a team widely supported by Rome ' s Jewish population ) and then against A . S . Livorno Calcio ( a club inclined to leftist politics ) . Di Canio received a one match game ban after the second event and was fined 7 , 000 Euros , after which he was quoted as saying " I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people . . I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values , values of civility against the standardisation that this society imposes upon us . " His salute featured on unofficial merchandise sold outside Stadio Olimpico after the ban . Lazio was Mussolini ' s favorite team . Di Canio has also expressed admiration for Mussolini . In June , 2009 , Michela Vittoria Brambilla , an Italian politician and businesswoman commonly described as a possible successor to Silvio Berlusconi for leadership of the Italian right , was caught in a controversy over her alleged use of the Roman salute , with calls for her to step down . She denied the accusation , stating " I ' ve never either done or thought of doing any gesture that is an apology of fascism , something toward which I ' ve never showed any indulgence , let alone sympathy . And why should I have made a public display of such a despicable gesture shortly after I ' ve been made a minister ? " A video of the event was posted on the Web site of the newspaper " La Repubblica " that showed Brambilla extending her right arm upward in what appears to be a fascist salute . Brambilla said she was just greeting the crowd . Germany . Use of the salute and accompanying phrases has been forbidden by law in Germany since the end of World War II . Section 86a of the German Penal Code provides for punishment of up to three years in prison for anyone using the salute , unless it is used for artistic , scientific , or educational purposes . Elsewhere . A large number of films made after World War II has made the Roman salute a visual stereotype of a proto - fascist ancient Roman society . In the 1951 film " Quo Vadis " , Nero ' s repeated use of the salute at mass rallies explicitly presents the Roman Empire as a Fascist military state . The movie provided other filmmakers of the time a model , with notable examples including " Ben - Hur , " " Spartacus , " " Cleopatra " . and Caligula . Not until " Gladiator " did the Roman epic return to the cinema . In this movie , the salute is notably absent in most scenes , for example when Commodus enters Rome or when the Senate salutes the Emperor by head - bowing . Variations on the salute also appear in neo - fascist contexts . For example , The Christian Falangist Party , founded in 1985 , uses a “ pectoral salute , ” in which the right arm , bent at the elbow , is extended from the heart , palm down . This gesture was used in François Truffaut ' s 1966 film " Fahrenheit 451 " . The film portrays a futuristic totalitarian society modeled after the fascist state , including black uniforms , book burning s , and thought control . In the " " episode " " , the salute begins with the right fist being placed over the heart , as in a pectoral salute , and then the arm is stretched out ( usually up ) before the body , open palm down , as in a traditional Roman salute . In the episode , Captain Kirk and members of his crew are transported to a parallel universe in which the United Federation of Planets has been replaced by an empire characterized by sadistic violence and torture , genocide , and unquestioning obedience to authority . A modified Roman salute is commonly used in the British - American series " Rome " . Here the salute avoids similarity to the Fascist salute , as the series seeks not to depict these Romans as stereotypical conquerors . And so the salute is not the familiar straight arm salute but rather resembles a pectoral salute , with the right hand is placed over the heart and then extended to the front of the body . The salute is also used by various modern political organizations , such as the Greek neo - fascist party Golden Dawn .