The three-finger salute (; or three fingers, (), commonly known as the Serbian salute (), is a salute which originally expressed the Holy Trinity, used in oath-taking, and a symbol of Serbian Orthodoxy, that today simply is an expression, a gesture, for ethnic Serbs and Serbia, made by extending the thumb, index, and middle fingers of one or both hands. The salute usually goes along with the Serbian flag, using several semantic layers to depict its historical meaning, while also being used a symbol of Serbian ethno-nationalism during the Guča Trumpet Festival. According to political scientist Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, "the salute remains a distinctive sign for the ethnic Serb and a symbol for belonging to the Serbian nation". Origin Orthodox symbolism In Serbian and Orthodox tradition, the number three is exceptionally important. Three fingers are used when signing the cross in Orthodoxy, symbolizing the Trinity. The Serbs, when swearing Oath, historically used the three fingers (collected, as when crossing) along with the greetings "My Holy Trinity" (Serbian: Светог ми Тројства / Svetog mi Trojstva) or "for the Honorable Cross and Golden Freedom" (за крст часни и слободу златну / za krst časni i slobodu zlatnu) during formal and religious events. The salute was often made with both hands, raised above the head. Serbian peasants sealed a pledge by raising three fingers to the face, the face being "the focus of honour" in Balkan culture. A Serbian proverb goes "There is no cross without three fingers" (нема крста без три прста / nema krsta bez tri prsta). Karađorđe was appointed leader of the Serbian rebels after they all raised their "three fingers in the air" and thereby swore Oath. The three fingers were viewed as a symbol of Serbdom in the 19th century. Njegoš mentioned "the crossing with three fingers has not remained" when speaking of the Islamization of Serbs, a central theme in The Mountain Wreath (1847). Paja Jovanović's painting, The Takovo Uprising (1888), depicts Miloš Obrenović holding a war flag and saluting with three fingers. The Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik, which supported that Serbs had three faiths (Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Islam), criticized the Pan-Serbists who according to them only "truly believed those Serbs, who cross with three fingers". A short story published in 1901 surrounds a Serbian despot meeting with a Szilágyi, who has the despot's three fingers cut off by Franciscan friars after discussing the right way of