Nazi salute

The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the Sieg Heil salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by raising and extending the right arm forward at an upward angle with a straightened hand, fingers together, and palm facing downward. The salute is usually accompanied by a cry of "Heil Hitler!" ('Hail Hitler!'), "Heil, mein Führer!" ('Hail, my leader!'), or "Sieg Heil!" ('Hail victory!').

Inspired by the Fascist salute used by members of the Italian National Fascist Party, the Nazi salute was officially adopted by the Nazi Party in 1926, although it had been used within the party as early as 1921 to signal obedience to the party's leader, Adolf Hitler, and to glorify the German nation (and later the German war effort). The salute was mandatory for civilians but mostly optional for military personnel, who retained a traditional military salute until the failed assassination attempt on Hitler on 20 July 1944.

Use of this salute is illegal in modern-day Germany (Strafgesetzbuch section 86a), Austria, and Slovakia. The use of any Nazi phrases associated with the salute is also forbidden. In Italy, it is a criminal offence only if used with the intent to "reinstate the defunct National Fascist Party", or to exalt or promote its ideology or members. In Canada and most of Europe (including the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Russia), displaying the salute is not in itself a criminal offence, but constitutes hate speech if used for propagating the Nazi ideology. In Australia, publicly performing the salute is illegal unless for a religious, academic, educational, artistic, literary, or scientific purpose.