The hand gesture in which you form the V of Victory was invented by a Belgian. The sign was conceived by engineer Victor de Laveleye. Victor Auguste de Laveleye was a doctor of law and participated as a tennis player in the Summer Olympics of 1920 and 1924. He was a municipal councilor in Saint-Gilles, chairman of the Liberal Party, and representative of the people in the Brussels district. De Laveleye was also minister of justice and public education.
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| Victor de Laveleye |
During the Second World War, he was director of the Belgian French-language broadcasts on the BBC. He called on his countrymen to paint a V on all kinds of buildings as a resistance to the German occupier. It became popular after Winston Churchill publicly took over the gesture and in the sixties, the symbol was given an extra meaning under the impetus of the hippie movement, namely that of peace.
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| Winston Churchill |