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 …

The term "peckerwood" originated as a racial epithet directed at whites. Today, it has been adopted by adherents of the white supremacist prison gang subculture, especially in southern and western states, to refer to themselves. The handsign for "peckerwood" consists of forming the thumb, index finger and middle finger of one hand to form the letter "P," and the four fingers of the other hand to form the letter "W." This is especially common in California, where peckerwood street…

Peckerwood Midwest is a white supremacist gang based primarily in Missouri, active both in prisons and on the streets. The gang's "patch" tattoo consists of a diamond-shaped swastika inside a larger Iron Cross. Inside the swastika are SS bolts; outside the Iron Cross are the numbers 23/16.

The Solid Wood Soldiers are a Texas-based white supremacist prison gang. Their primary tattoo consists of the initials SWS, with the two S's represented by lightning bolts. Above the initials appears the image of a bear claw, with the number 4 in the middle and sometimes the letters HCRL.

In the 2000s, white supremacists created a handsign intended to memorialize the Schutzstaffeln or SS of Nazi Germany, Hitler's secret police, political army, and concentration camp guards. The handsign utilizes both hands to make a lightning bolt symbol, as a pair of lightning bolts was the main symbol of the SS. Additional Images:

The Supreme White Alliance is a hardcore racist skinhead gang based primarily in the Midwest. Members sometimes use a two-handed handsign in which four fingers from one hand and three fingers from the other hand are used to represent the number 43. The gang uses 43 as a numeric symbol because the alphanumeric equivalents of the gang's initials (19 for S, 23 for W, and 1 for A), when added together, equal 43.

The handsign used by the Vinlanders Social Club, a racist skinhead gang, consists of holding up the first, second, and fourth fingers of one hand.

Members of the white supremacist group Volksfront have used several handsigns to represent their gang. A common one-handed sign features the fingers of the right hand divided into a "V" shape, often held over the chest. A two-handed sign uses one hand to make a "V" shape (using two or four fingers) and the other hand to make the shape of the letter "F."