• Sign of Victory • Print

• In a setting of wartime, the “Sign of Victory” played an important role when the US and its mostly English allies finally defeated Nazi Germany in World War II during the pivotal naval invasion on June 5, 1941 of Normandy, France, which the Nazis had occupied including other European countries like England, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, and Poland. • Although the Sign of Victory originated when Belgian exile Victor de Laveyele introduced the 2-finger V-Sign as a symbol of unity in January 1941, it was British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who largely popularized the Victory Sign as his troop rallying cry while he commanded 1000s of troops to confront and bomb occupied German strongholds. • With US General Dwight S Eisenhower leading the so-called “Longest Day” Normandy naval assault, Winston Churchill told the world that defeat was not acceptable, and victory is the only outcome he wanted to see. • To carry out the invasion, the allied troops fought the enemy by constantly signaling the V-Sign even though victory was not yet at hand. • In creating the “Sign of Victory” abstract, my aim was not only to bring back some memories of World War history, but to remind many that the sign was not invented out of fantasy; but was used primarily to lift the spirit of the million soldiers who fought and perished while they tried to stop the tyranny of the enemy.