Flipping the Bird British Style

It seems the British have their own way of flipping someone the bird, also known as the one-finger salute (an offensive hand gesture in some cultures). Compare flipping the bird (British style) with the finger (American style).

I never would have been aware of these vagaries of style had I not read David Segal’s review of Madonna’s Reinvention concert. It seems that Madonna ended one number “by flipping the crowd the British equivalent of the bird. (It’s the peace sign, only with the back of the hand to the recipient, if you’re interested.) Either nobody realized it, or nobody minded.”

Finally, how did this obscene gesture ever come to be associated with a bird?