V for Victory ~ 41-1-14

.Where does 'V for Victory' come from? - iwm > .

Winston Churchill's War - BBC doc > .

Churchill - tb >> .

Winston's Churchill's V for Victory sign is perhaps one the most iconic of the Second World War. Though it started (July '41) with a simple radio broadcast, the symbol took Europe by storm and became a rallying emblem for those under occupation. 75 years on from VE Day, V stands for far more than Victory, it stands for solidarity, resistance and never giving up.

During World War II, Victor de Laveleye was newsreader for Radio Belgique, a BBC station transmitted to occupied Belgium. In a radio broadcast on 14 January 1941, de Laveleye asked all Belgians to use the letter "V" as a rallying sign, being the first letter of victoire (victory) in French and of vrijheid (freedom) in Dutch. This was the beginning of the "V campaign" which saw "V" graffities on the walls of Belgium and later all of Europe and introduced the use of the "V sign" for victory and freedom. Winston Churchill adopted the sign soon afterwards, though he sometimes got it the wrong way around by displaying the back of his hand, a gesture that is widely used in Great Britain as a lewd and vulgar insult (it means "fυck off").