The Vulcan salute was Spock actor Leonard Nimoy's idea and Nimoy's idea alone. The well-known gesture first appeared in the second-season premiere episode of "Star Trek" titled "Amok Time."
In it, Spock returns to his home planet after having been away for a long time. "I suggested to the director there should be some Vulcan thing that Vulcans do when they greet — like humans shake hands or military people salute each other, Asian people bow to each other. We have rituals," Nimoy recalled during an extensive interview in 2000.
He remembered throwing up his hand in the gesture rather quickly as an example of something to consider, "and the next thing you know it's in the script!" he recalled with a laugh, then acknowledged, "It caught on."
Over the years, the Vulcan salute has been re-enacted by fans, mocked by comedians, and even reinvented. (Remember Robin Williams doing his version of the alien hand jive on the '80s sitcom "Mork & Mindy"?) President Obama — a self-professed "Star Trek" fan — has thrown that Vulcan hand signal a few times, and other celebrities who have made the renowned V-shape by parting their ring and middle fingers include Reese Witherspoon, Jim Carrey, and Pharrell Williams.
Find out the Jewish roots of Leonard Nimoy and ‘live long and prosper’ hand sign at Washingtonpost.com.