The three-finger salute (; or three fingers, (), commonly known as the Serbian salute (), is a salute which the thumb, index, and middle finger are extending. It originally expressed the Holy Trinity, used in oath-taking, and a symbol of Serbian Orthodoxy, that today simply is an expression, a gesture, for ethnic Serbs, and Serbia.
The salute usually goes along with the Serbian flag, using several semantic layers to depict its historical meaning, while also being used a symbol of Serbian ethno-nationalism during the Guča Trumpet Festival. According to political scientist Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, "the salute remains a distinctive sign for the ethnic Serb and a symbol for belonging to the Serbian nation".
Origin
Orthodox symbolism
In Serbian and Orthodox tradition, the number three is exceptionally important. Three fingers are used when signing the cross in Orthodoxy, symbolizing the Trinity. The Serbs, when swearing Oath, historically used the three fingers (collected, as when crossing) along with the greetings "My Holy Trinity" (Serbian: Светог ми Тројства / Svetog mi Trojstva) or "for the Honorable Cross and Golden Freedom" (за крст часни и слободу златну / za krst časni i slobodu zlatnu) during formal and religious events. The salute was often made with both hands, raised above the head. Serbian peasants sealed a pledge by raising three fingers to the face, the face being "the focus of honour" in Balkan culture. A Serbian proverb goes "There is no cross without three fingers" (нема крста без три прста / nema krsta bez tri prsta). Karađorđe was appointed leader of the Serbian rebels after they all raised their "three fingers in the air" and thereby swore Oath.
The three fingers were viewed as a symbol of Serbdom in the 19th century. Njegoš mentioned "the crossing with three fingers has not remained" when speaking of the Islamization of Serbs, a central theme in The Mountain Wreath (1847). Paja Jovanović's painting, The Takovo Uprising (1888), depicts Miloš Obrenović holding a war flag and saluting with three fingers. The Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik, which supported that Serbs had three faiths (Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Islam), criticized the Pan-Serbists who according to them only "truly believed those Serbs, who cross with three fingers". A short story published in 1901 surrounds a Serbian despot meeting with a Szilágyi, who has the despot's three fingers cut off by Franciscan friars after discussing the right way of crossing.
Serbian Metropolitan Nikolaj Velimirović (1881–1956) called for a Serbian salute in which three fingers were to be raised along the greeting: "Thus Help Us God!". In 1937, Velimirović began a sermon protesting the Catholic support for separation of state and religion in Yugoslavia with "Raise three fingers, Orthodox Serbs!".
During World War II, the Catholic church in Independent State of Croatia sought that the Serbs renounce crossing with three fingers. A letter from the Chetniks to the Yugoslav Partisans stressed that the real government was in London (in exile) and that they would kill all who did not cross themselves with three fingers. An Ustashe song went Nesta krsta sa tri prsta ("Gone is the crossing with three fingers") which was referred to Muslim daily ablution and the Orthodox way of making the sign of the cross.
Modern form
Vuk Drašković, the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement political party, said in a 2007 interview that he first used it in 1990 at the founding meeting of the party, inspired by Paja Jovanović's painting. During the March 1991 street demonstrations in Belgrade, the three fingers were massively used by Drašković's supporters, representing the three demands that the Serbian Renewal Movement had put before the government.
Usage and Controversy
Usage in sports
In a famous photograph of the Red Star Belgrade team celebrating their victory at the 1990–91 European Cup, eight players are seen using the Serb salute, while a Croatian player, Robert Prosinečki, is not.
After winning the 1995 European basketball championship, the entire then-Yugoslav team displayed the three fingers. Aleksandar Đorđević says he flashed the three fingers "not to be provocative. Just: that's Serbia, that's us, that's me – nothing else. It's my pride." Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic raises three fingers after his victories.
