Sunday, July 18, 2010

Origin of Salute....

"The military salute originated during the medieval times. Knights in armour used to raise their visors to reveal their identity, and the motion later evolved into the modern-day salute."


A salute (also called obeisance) is a gesture (often a finger gesture) or other action used to display respect. Salutes are primarily associated with armed forces, but other organizations and civil people also use salutes.

The exact origin of this salute has been lost to time. One theory is that it came from Roman soldiers' shading their eyes from the intense light that was pretended to shine from the eyes of their superiors. Another theory is that it came from when men-at-arms wore armour—a friendly approach would include holding the reins of the horse with the left hand while raising the visor of the helmet with the right, so that one would know they meant not to battle them. A third theory is that the salute, and the handshake, came from a way of showing that the right hand (the fighting hand) was not concealing a weapon. A combination of showing an empty right hand, palm outwards, which was then raised formally to a helmet to raise a visor would demonstrate non-aggressive intentions, and therefore respect. In Tudor times the helmet of a suit of armour was known as a 'sallet', a word very similar to the word 'salute'.

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