The crossed hands gesture is a hand signal that denotes

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

International Sign International Sign (IS) is a pidgin sign language which is used in a variety of different contexts, particularly as an international auxiliary language at meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) congress, in some European Union s ...

. Known as shenja e flamurit (flag sign) in Albanian, it is sometimes referred to as the "eagle gesture" and is a symbol used by ethnic

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

in Albania,

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, and other regions of the world where Albanians live. It is meant to visually demonstrate the

double-headed eagle The double-headed eagle is an Iconology, iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. The earliest predecessors of the symbol can be found in Mycenaean Greece and in the Ancient Near East, especially in Mesopotamian and Hittite Empire#icon ...

, the main image on the Albanian flag. The symbolism of the double-headed eagle among Albanians encapsulates their ethnicity and flag, viewing it as a symbol that represents ethnic-Albanian people across the globe. Albanians call themselves as "Shqiptar" (son of eagle) and their country "Shqipëri" (land of eagles). It is also sometimes viewed as alluding to the Greater Albania

irredentist Irredentism () is one state's desire to annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the population of the parent state. Hist ...

concept. This gesture is often performed by players of the

Albania national football team The Albania national football team () represents Albania in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Albanian Football Federation (FSHF), the governing body for football in Albania. It is a member of UEFA in Eur ...

to celebrate a goal or at the end of a victorious game. It has also been used by some ethnic Albanians playing for other teams. In the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, Swiss players of Kosovan descent Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka and Swiss player Stephan Lichtsteiner, performed the gesture in a match against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and were subsequently fined by FIFA "for unsporting behaviour contrary to the principles of fair-play". In a similar incident during the UEFA Euro 2024 Championship's Serbia–England match, Kosovar journalist Arlind Sadiku directed the gesture at Serbian fans while on a live broadcast; UEFA revoked Sadiku's Euro 2024 media accreditation pass several days later. During the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, Greek singer of Albanian descent Eleni Foureira made the Albanian patriotic eagle gesture in a photo with Albanian singer Eugent Bushpepa. The image went viral in Albania and Greece, being well-received in the former but causing controversy in the latter.

References

Hand gestures Culture of Albania Albanian traditions Double-headed eagle {{Albania-stub