Who showed the ‘V’ sign first?

The ‘V’ is a hand gesture which means ‘Victory’ or ‘Peace.’ It is made with the first and second fingers raised and parted, whilst the remaining fingers are clenched and the palm faces outwards.According to legend, the ‘V’ sign goes back to the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. The story claims that the French cut off two fingers on the right hand of captured archers, and the ‘V’ sign was a gesture of defiance made by the English archers who were not mutilated. Former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill used the ‘V’ sign to symbolize victory during World War II. The sign became very popular in the United States during the peace movement of the 1960s.