FAQ: Raised Index And Little Finger

Ronnie apparently brought the raised index and little finger hand sign to metal world in 1980. It was quickly adopted by the metal bands in '80s and somewhat identified as "heavy metal sign".

However, it has much older meaning too. In the ancient Egypt, the sign was called the evil eye sign. It was used to put a spell on someone, to cast "an evil eye". Many of the pharaos buried in the pyramids had sculptures guarding them, those sculptures often showed the evil eye sign to curse the grave robbers and to guard the pharao.

The sign has also many other meanings, depending on the culture where it is shown. It is called for example The Horned Hand by some religious groups. Some satanists also use it in their rituals.