Three-finger salute: Hunger Games symbol adopted by Myanmar protesters

From Thailand to Myanmar, pro-democracy protesters are raising the three finger salute in opposition to military dictatorships. Adopted from the Hunger Games films, the gesture has become a symbol of resistance and solidarity for democracy movements in south-east Asia.

The salute was first used in Myanmar last week by medical workers, then youth protesters started raising it in opposition to the military coup. On Monday, one week after the takeover, the hand gesture could be seen during huge protests on the streets of Yangon.

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On 1 February Myanmar’s army took power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. She and other senior party figures were detained in a morning raid. In response, tens of thousands have protested in the streets of Yangon and other cities as part of a growing campaign of civil disobedience. The military have blocked social media platforms in an attempt to stamp out dissent. The United Nations Security Council has called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other ministers detained.

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In the Hunger Games, the salute represented solidarity in a dystopian world where rebels fought for freedom against an all-powerful tyrant.

The gesture was first seen in Thailand just days after a military coup in May 2014 that caused outrage among voters across the kingdom. It was later banned.

Following the military takeover, a small group of youth protesters massed in front of a busy shopping mall to show their dissatisfaction. One of the protesters suddenly raised the salute.

“When this person started, others followed. So it automatically became an anti-coup symbol,” says Sirawith Seritiwat, 28, a prominent Thai pro-democracy activist who was present at the time.

Since 2014, the hand gesture has been used widely in Thailand at protest sites.

“We knew that it would be easily understood to represent concepts of freedom, equality, solidarity,” he said. He added that the anti-authortarian messaging conveyed in the Hunger Games films resonated with the youth protesters at the time.

“It was partly because the anti-coup situation back then felt similar to scenes in the Hunger Games film, where people put three fingers up towards President Snow,” he said.