All the symbols depicted in the hate symbols database must be evaluated in the context in which they appear. Few symbols represent just one idea or are used exclusively by one group. For example, 100% is often used as an amount or an expression and it is also used by some white supremacists as shorthand for "100% white." Similarly, other symbols in this database may be significant to people who are not extreme or racist. The descriptions here point out significant multiple meanings but may not be able to relay every possible meaning of a particular symbol.
From its beginnings in the 1860s, the Ku Klux Klan has employed a variety of salutes and hand signs both public and private. Most of the hand signs and gestures used by the first and second Ku Klux Klans have fallen by the wayside over the years, except for the Klan salute, which dates back to 1915. It resembles a Nazi salute (which some Klan members will also use), except that it is performed with the left arm. Often Klan members will separate the fingers of their hand when making the salute (to represent the 4 K's of Knights of the Ku Klux Klan).
In the 21st century, however, white supremacists use hand signs more often than they once did (aping street gangs) and some Ku Klux Klan members have taken to "flashing" a hand sign consisting of the index and middle fingers held out sideways, in order to look more or less like the letter "K."
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