Basque officials protested that the medal was an insulting gesture of approval for someone who had persecuted their people.
Since the days of Gerald Ford, just about every Republican presidential campaign has included some symbolic gesture of approval for good old-fashioned racism.
They were those on boats docked just off the island — small ones, mostly, but also one large navy-blue-bellied yacht that occasionally flashed a spotlight at the stage, presumably as a gesture of approval.
The award of the 2009 Stirling prize to Rogers's building was another gesture of approval for the Maggie's Centre approach, but it also raised the question of whether they really needed such star names to design them.
As for the instructions on not to point, she told us that such actions - signifying a gesture of approval of the north - may be photographed to score propaganda points.
All that is a far cry from today's pointing, which is a gesture of approval or respect or gentle ribbing, with an unspoken caption of "You son of a gun" or "You da man" or just plain "You!" It is rarely a straight-ahead point, but rather something sidelong, with chin tucked down and eyebrows raised and, sometimes, lips pursed.
You may use it as an innocuous gesture of approval, but it's the equivalent of giving someone the middle finger elsewhere in the world.
On March 3, 1835, with only hours remaining in the congressional session, the Whigs voted him President pro tempore of the Senate as a symbolic gesture of approval.
When you smile subtly, you are saying, "Here is a gesture of approval".
And inspiring all, emperor Marcel Duchamp gestures a thumbs-up of approval and credibility.
