The fig sign is an ancient gesture with many uses. 1  Fig sign is a gesture made with the hand and fingers curled and the thumb thrust between the middle and index fingers, or, rarely, the middle and ring fingers, forming the fist so that the thumb partly pokes out. The Finger, an extended middle finger with the back of the hand towards the recipient, is an obscene hand gesture used in much of Western culture. 2  The middle finger presumably refers to an erect penis penetrating the female genetalia represented by the curled ring and index fingers.