Never knew this, but apparently the French and Canadian teams in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin made the Olympian salute before Chancellor Hitler, which the German crowd understandably mistook for the Nazi salute.
Of course, the United States was the ONLY team that refused to dip their flag to anyone. Obviously, this pre-dated the era of our Presidents bowing to Kings and Queens. Germans were none-too-pleased.
Narrated by Jesse Owens,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dyns367ExE

That outstretched arm salute goes way back, to Roman days I believe. It was even instituted here in the USA for awhile, called the Bellamy salute. Once it became associated with Nazism though, it was discouraged to be used here anymore.
Originally Posted By Steelblitz:
That outstretched arm salute goes way back, to Roman days I believe. It was even instituted here in the USA for awhile, called the Bellamy salute. Once it became associated with Nazism though, it was discouraged to be used here anymore.
The Roman salute most commonly documented was more straight out from the body, with the arm parallel to the ground, but the idea's the same.