It is often mythologised as originating at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The legend goes that English and Welsh archers would flick the rods at the French, who had threatened to chop off the draw-fingers of any captured bowmen. This, of course, is utter bollocks.
In reality, it is a fiercely defiant gesture born from the grit of the industrial North at the turn of the 20th century. Brilliant as it is, the first ever documented use of the offensive V-sign was actually caught on film in 1901 right here in Rotherham, where I live. It occurred when a local worker flicked it at a camera to show he didn't want to be filmed.
The footage was filmed at Parkgate which is now sadly a large retail park. You can see the full short film here.
From those local streets, it went on to cement itself as a staple of working-class culture from the 1960s right through to the 1990s.
The gesture has always carried a bit of confusion with it. For the V-sign to be offensive, the palm must face inward; reverse this to palm-out, and the meaning changes completely to peace. But it wasn't this identity crisis that caused its demise. Instead, it was the steady influence of American media, with their single-finger 'bird' gaining traction and cementing itself into the minds of younger people around the world. Now, I know I'd get picked up on this if I didn't mention it: the Americans didn't actually invent the 'bird'. Instead, they repackaged a 2,500-year-old Greco-Roman phallic insult—one that likely arrived on US shores via Italian immigrants—and exported it back to the rest of us. Finally, when the global emoji standard was created, that single digit was included, but our classic palm-in, two-finger salute was completely omitted, effectively denying that old Northern grit a place in modern text messaging.
Finally, I had hoped we could all join together in giving a collective set of rods to the grifting political stain that is Nigel F*rage when he vacated his seat this week. Instead, in a desperate bid to outmanoeuvre the parliamentary watchdog investigating his dodgy finances, he announced he would immediately contest the very by-election his resignation caused. He even had the cheek to claim his stunt was a chance to 'stick two fingers up to the establishment'.
In a beautiful twist, the major parties have completely refused to give him the grand battle he wanted, choosing not to stand against him and turning his calculated distraction into a total farce of his own making. With the mainstream parties stepping aside, Farage's only true adversary on the ballot is Count Binface. Hopefully, watching a man who views himself as a political titan reduced to trading barbs with a satirical space knight will finally show his idolaters the absolute joke that he really is.
The spirit of the Urban Viking—and the occasional absurdity of navigating the modern world—lives on in my webcomic, Northman. 
You can read the latest chapter here:
I hope Count Binface wins in a landslide!
ReplyDeleteVote Binface... because literally anything would be better.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with your remarks about Farage. As for the two fingers gesture, I think that is evidenced most famously on the paperback cover of "Kes" by Barry Hines. If you pissed me off Kirt, I would definitely give you the two fingered salute as opposed to the American middle finger. I taught my children how to do the two fingers before they could even walk. Every voter in Clacton should give Farage the two fingers he deserves but sadly he continues to hoodwink so many of them. It's like he's a snake oil salesman.
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