What is the history behind the American and British military salutes?

During my last DEP(Delayed Entry Program) meeting we were discussing why the American and British salutes were different. The recruiter said he heard it was because the American's won the war and the British lost. Hence why we do ours palm down and they do theirs palm up. I read about the salutes in wikipedia, but none those were just speculations of the person writing it. Does anyone have more information about this?

"In British history, in the early 1800s, the Coldstream Guards amended the British military salute custom of tipping the hat. They were instructed to clap their hands to their hats and bow as they pass by. This was quickly adopted by other Regiments as wear and tear on the hats by constant removal and replacing was a matter of great concern. By the mid 19th Century, the salute had evolved further with the open hand, palm to the front, and this has remained the case since then.

Most historians believe, however, that the U.S. Military salute was influenced more by the British Navy. The Naval salute differs from the "Open Hand" British Army Salute in that the palm of the hand faces down towards the shoulder. This dates back to the days of sailing ships, when tar and pitch were used to seal the timber from seawater. To protect their hands, officer wore white gloves and it was considered most undignified to present a dirty palm in the salute so the hand was turned through 90 degrees."

Thank you, Adam. Good fortune to you in your military service. ( Here's MY favorite hand salute):

http://services.tos.net/pics/tos/spock6.jpg http://answers.yahoo.com/question/accuse_write?qid=20070815215009AAPjWkj&kid=RpIvXTLqBGSa4KV3ocjp45wRUFrl.O6fH7szc8YRLrFOzDJumSWA&s=comm&date=2007-08-17+08%3A01%3A30&.crumb=

history tells us that we salute the way we do because during the crusades, it was nessesary to show armored knights your hand/palms as a way of showing that you were friendly and un armed.

"The recruiter said he heard it was because the American's won the war and the British lost"

typical Americans, and which war would that be? There has been more than one.

how did they salute before they "lost" ? do they change salutes after each confrontation with another nation?

your recruiter is an idiot