Timeline for What is the history of the "surrender" gesture?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
15 events
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| Jan 17, 2019 at 13:17 | comment | added | user31561 | > you drop your weapon, put your hands up and maybe drop to your knees or even prostrate yourself. All of these are a very good way of showing that you are no longer a threat. other acts of surrender such as the white flag don't do so, so can easily be misunderstood. Thirdly, the act of surrender itself has cultural context - many peoples would not accept a surrender once fighting began etc. as a means of forcing a prior surrender, or have contempt for people who surrender and thus would not accept it. | |
| Jan 15, 2019 at 18:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackHistory/status/1085235322823290882 | ||
| Jan 15, 2019 at 9:57 | comment | added | DevSolar | (ctd.) I am pretty sure that a Roman unencumbered by a shield would show his empty hands; whether up, our outward, or to the front, doesn't really matter. It's not the "empty hand, up" that's universal, it's the "I am unarmed and defenseless". The white flag just tells the same thing, by convention, at a larger distance. | |
| Jan 15, 2019 at 9:54 | comment | added | DevSolar | @Yasskier: What I am trying to point out is, the "universal gesture" is that of dropping your weapons and showing yourself defenseless. That hasn't changed over the ages; just the weapons and defenses. You can drop a sword / spear, but as long as you hold the shield it's hard to tell you dropped your weapon. You can't drop a shield at a moments notice (it's designed to not be dropped inadvertently), so you hold it up (where it does you no good). It's not the same gesture as holding up your empty hands, but it conveys the same message, in the same way. | |
| Jan 15, 2019 at 9:44 | comment | added | Yasskier | @DevSolar but would it be understood by people who never fought them? And it would be lost to people from the further ages - like for us: currently if you are rising hands while still holding your weapons, then it looks like you are cheering. | |
| Jan 15, 2019 at 8:28 | comment | added | DevSolar | @Yasskier: That is a gesture that would not be lost to any culture that had previously fought those same Romans with spear or sword (or anyone who has experience in that sort of combat in general). The gesture is the same as holding up your hands: You show that you have no intention to defend yourself. | |
| Jan 15, 2019 at 1:44 | history | edited | Yasskier | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 15, 2019 at 1:41 | comment | added | Yasskier |
@AllInOne from the same link Before that time, Roman armies would surrender by holding their shields above their heads - this is a gesture that would be lost on many other cultures.
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| Jan 15, 2019 at 0:14 | history | edited | Yasskier | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 15, 2019 at 0:12 | history | edited | Yasskier | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 15, 2019 at 0:07 | history | edited | Yasskier | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 15, 2019 at 0:06 | history | edited | Jos | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 14, 2019 at 22:58 | history | edited | MCW♦ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 14, 2019 at 22:55 | comment | added | AllInOne | White Flag of Truce or Surrender is very old: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flag | |
| Jan 14, 2019 at 22:09 | history | asked | Yasskier | CC BY-SA 4.0 |