The Star Trek fans often greet each other by forming the letter ‘V’ with their fingers with a partition in the middle. The sign, referred to as the Vulcan salute was created by veteran actor Leonard Nimoy himself for his character.
Becoming an icon that rapidly gained popularity, billions of people know the Vulcan sign, and Star Trek fans often greet each other with the Vulcan salute. However, Nimoy revealed how he came up with that idea.
How Leonard Nimoy Came Up With That Idea
It’s time for a little history lesson (but we will make it interesting). Winston Churchill, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom had a special sign that he used to do.
Forming the letter ‘V’ with his index and second finger, Churchill became synonymous with the iconic ‘victory’ sign and was often photographed doing so.
In his autobiography titled I Am Spock (via FarOut Magazine), Nimoy stated that his form of the Vulcan salute was inspired by Winston Churchill’s peace sign.
Nimoy described the sign as his “double-fingered version of Churchill’s victory sign”. Several actors even had difficulty maintaining that sign for longer periods of time so, they used to do it off-screen as a form of practicing the iconic Vulcan salute.
Although the sign became quite iconic, there is a deeper meaning to Spock’s Vulcan salute that many people do not know about. Leonard Nimoy stated that that is one of the things he likes most about people greeting each other with the Vulcan salute.
What Does The Vulcan Salute Actually Mean?
In his autobiography, Nimoy talked about a memory that he shared with his grandfather when they went to an Orthodox synagogue. It was during one of his walks through the building that Nimoy saw a particular greeting.
The Vulcan salute is supposed to represent the Hebrew letter Shin (ש) which refers to the higher power. In a 2013 interview (via FarOut Magazine), Leonard Nimoy stated that the Vulcan salute had a deeper meaning.
The actor stated that it was a greeting and most of the people did not even realize that they were actually blessing the other person with this sign.
People don’t realise they’re blessing each other with this!
Leonard Nimoy passed away in 2015 but the whole world remembers him as the man who portrayed the brilliant role of Spock in the Star Trek franchise. The actor had reprised his role one last time in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness.
The iconic film received a rating of 7.7/10 on IMDB and a whopping 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans loved seeing Nimoy portraying the role of Spock Prime in the film. Star Trek Into Darkness is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
