The Victory Sign: A Gesture That Connects Generations

The Victory sign (V sign) first gained worldwide recognition during World War II as a symbol of victory before becoming the iconic gesture of the hippie movement, representing peace. Since then, it has become part of popular culture, appeared in business settings, and today remains a favorite pose among many people in Generation Z. One detail matters, especially in the UK: with the palm facing outward, the gesture means victory or peace. With the back of the hand facing outward, however, it is considered an offensive gesture. At ICSR + Art 2026 in London, Oliver Bendel (Generation X, FHNW School of Business) and Jana Figge (Generation Z, Hochschule Ruhr West) celebrated their presentations on social robots with the same gesture. Across generations, the Victory sign expressed shared success, relief, and the pleasure of seeing their work received with genuine interest by the research community. Do humanoid robots use the Victory sign as well? They certainly can perform expressive hand gestures, but a widely documented example of a robot intentionally using the V sign as a social gesture is surprisingly hard to find. Perhaps that is a small challenge for the next generation of social robots.

Fig.: Oliver Bendel and Jana Figge at ICSR + Art 2026 (Photo: Hooman Samani)