"The President of the United States, as the commander in chief, will be saluted by Army personnel in uniform. president) are required to render salutes.
Army regulations, for example, state that neither civilians nor those wearing civilian attire (both of which describe the U.S.
These claims originated without any additional information about the incident and were based on assumptions, point out.Īctually, no regulation specifies that the president should salute (or return the salute of) military personnel. Over the past few years, the video was shared with the claim that Obama had been forced to disembark Marine One at the insistence of its pilot, who supposedly refused to carry the commander in chief until he went back out and saluted the Marine. 1400, "act of saluting, respectful gesture of greeting, salutation," from salute (v.). Salute ( v.) late 14c., "to greet courteously and respectfully,". This action was formalised as the salute in European armies by about 1780, and from them spread to the rest of the world.Īnswered by: Rupert Matthews, historian and author They, too, stopped raising the hat and instead merely touched Soon other soldiers adopted the shako, busby or bearskin, all of which were held in place by a chinstrap. The men began to merely touch their hats as if intending Like civilians they raised their hats when greeting a superior.īy 1700 grenadiers were wearing tall, conical hats held in place with secure chinstraps that were difficult to raise in greeting. After metal helmets fell out of favour, soldiers wore hats similar to those of civilians. The salute probably developed in response to a change in military headgear. Unfortunately for this neat idea, the modern form of salute is not recorded before the early 18th century. When approaching a senior officer a man would lift his helmet visor so that he could be recognised, the hand moving in a similar way to the modern salute. It has been said that the gesture began in medieval times. 19 guns) might be afforded to heads of government (e.g. This involves firing 21 rounds of artillery. In British-styled armies, it is termed the royal salute, but it is offered as a gesture of respect to any head of state (such as presidents). The gesture of presenting arms with a rifle is different than the regular salute made when holding a rifle. soldiers and NCOs will present arms en masse by thrusting their rifles forward while held vertically, while officers will raise and then lower their swords. "Eyes Right" or "Eyes Left").īut when called to present arms, (generally while standing still on a parade ground), all personnel will move their weapons to acknowledge the recipient of respect. The remaining personnel will not salute per se, but will move their heads to acknowledge the passing officer (e.g. It usually occurs only in formal parade ground situations and is called "presenting arms":įor example, in British-styled militaries, if a group of soldiers on the march encounters a superior officer, the leader of that group will give a standard salute (which varies depending on whether they are holding a weapon or not). My understanding is that the OP is not after the origins of the term "salute" but is asking whether there is a higher level gesture of paying respect, compared to the standard salute.