Nazi salute
gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany
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 1923 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 the salute is illegal in modern-day Germany, where associated phrases are also forbidden, although exemptions are made for its ironic use to mock the Nazi greeting. It is also illegal in Austria and Slovakia. In Canada, much of Europe, and Australia, the salute is forbidden except under circumstances that do not promote Nazi ideology.
Description
The salute was executed by extending the right arm stiff to an upward 45° angle and then straightening the hand so that it is in the same direction and slope as the arm. Usually, an utterance of "Sieg Heil", "Heil Hitler!", or "Heil!" accompanied the gesture.
“Nazi salute” enters the record as gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Nazi, salute and gesture can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Nazi salute” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Nazi, salute and gesture provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q153271. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1926, 1923 and 1944.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Nazi salute”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Nazi salute primary sources, Nazi salute archive and Nazi research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Nazi salute”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Nazi salute” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.