Nazi salute

The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute,, also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', }} or the '''''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened hand. Usually, the person offering the salute would say ''"Heil Hitler!"'' (),}} ''"Heil, mein Führer!"'' (), or ''"Sieg Heil!"''''' (). It 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. Publicly performing the salute is also illegal in Australia under Commonwealth law unless for a religious, academic, educational, artistic, literary or scientific purpose. Provided by Wikipedia