Editing Salute (section)

===Hand salutes===
==== Origins ====
[[File:Rustic civility.jpg|thumb|''Rustic Civility'' by [[William Collins (painter)|William Collins]] showing a child "tugging his forelock" as a person of higher standing passes on horseback (only visible by the shadow)]]

According to some modern military manuals, the modern Western salute originated in France when [[knight]]s greeted each other to show friendly intentions by raising their [[Visor (armor)|visors]] to show their faces and show that they are not carrying a weapon (in their right hand).{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} Others also note that the raising of one's visor was a way to identify oneself saying "This is who I am, and I am not afraid." Medieval visors were, to this end, equipped with a protruding spike that allowed the visor to be raised using a saluting motion.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 February 2012 |title=See external picture |url=http://www.123rf.com/photo_11279838_heavy-medieval-iron-helmet-from-a-german-knight.html |access-date=28 January 2014 |publisher=123rf.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dougherty |first1=Martin |title=Weapons and Fighting Techniques of the Medieval Warrior 1000–1500 AD |date=2008 |publisher=Chartwell Books |isbn=9780785834250 |page=53}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vignettes |url=https://qmmuseum.army.mil/research/vignettes/origin-of-the-hand-salute.html#:~:text=The%20following%20explanation%20of%20the,a%20responsibility%20of%20every%20soldier. |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=qmmuseum.army.mil}}</ref> As late as the American Revolution, a British Army soldier saluted by removing his hat. 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.

As early as 1745, a British order book stated that: "The men are ordered not to pull off their hats when they pass an officer, or to speak to them, but only to clap up their hands to their hats and bow as they pass." Over time, it became conventionalized into something resembling the modern hand salute.<ref>[http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/history/vignettes/respect1.html "Origin of the Hand Salute"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226142941/http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/history/vignettes/respect1.html|date=26 December 2015}}, US Army Quartermaster Center & School, retrieved 27 September 2014</ref> In the [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor|Austrian Army]] the practice of making a hand salute replaced that of removing the headdress in 1790, although officers wearing [[bicorne|cocked hats]] continued to remove them when greeting superiors until 1868.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lucas |first=James |title=Fighting Troops of the Austro-Hungarian Army 1868–1914 |year=1987 |isbn=0-946771-04-9 |page=207|publisher=Hippocrene Books }}</ref>

The naval salute is said to have evolved because the palms of sailors were often covered with tar and pitch, so [[Queen Victoria]] required that palm be turned downwards.<ref name="n526">{{cite web | last=Macdougall | first=Jane | title=The curious history of the salute | website=National Post | date=March 27, 2015 | url=https://nationalpost.com/life/the-curious-history-of-the-salute | access-date=May 8, 2024}}</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Hand salutes are normally carried out by bringing the right hand to the head in some way, the precise manner varying between countries and sometimes amongst various branches of the armed forces of the same country. The British Army's salute is almost identical to the French salute, with the palm facing outward. The customary salute in the [[Polish Armed Forces]] is the [[two-fingers salute]], a variation of the British military salute with only two fingers extended. In the [[Armed Forces of the Russian Federation|Russian military]], the right hand, palm down, is brought to the right temple, almost, but not quite, touching; the head has to be covered. In the [[Hellenic Army]] salute, the palm is facing down and the fingers point to the coat of arms.

In many militaries,{{r |n=hand-list |r=the [[United States Navy]], [[United States Marine Corps]], [[United States Coast Guard]], [[United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps]], [[Colombian Army]] and [[Ecuadorian Army]], as well as in all branches of the [[French Armed Forces]], [[Spanish Armed Forces]], [[British Armed Forces]] (with the exception of the [[Blues and Royals#Regimental traditions|Blues and Royals]]), [[Canadian Forces]], [[Danish Defence|Danish Armed Forces]], [[Hellenic Armed Forces]], [[Italian Armed Forces]], [[Norwegian Armed Forces]], [[Polish Armed Forces]], [[Defence Forces (Ireland)|Irish Defence Forces]], [[Argentine Armed Forces]], [[Australian Defence Force]], [[South African National Defence Force]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mhs.mil.za/news/news2007/mar/salutation.htm|title=Compliments and Saluting|website=South African Military Health Service|access-date=6 February 2018|archive-date=24 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224124535/http://www.mhs.mil.za/news/news2007/mar/salutation.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Swedish Defence Forces, [[Turkish Armed Forces]], [[Portuguese Armed Forces]] and [[Russian Armed Forces|Russian]] and all former Soviet republic forces}} hand salutes are only given when a [[Hat|cover]] (headwear, usually a hat) is worn.