In Serbian and Orthodox tradition, the number three is very important. Three fingers are used when signing the cross in Orthodoxy, to represent the three parts of the Trinity. In history, Serbs used the three-finger salute when they were making oaths. Often, the salute was done with both hands above the head. A Serbian proverb says that "There is no cross without three fingers" (нема крста без три прста). Karađorđe was made the leader of the First Serbian Uprising after all the members of the uprising raised their "three fingers in the air" and by doing that swore an oath to him. 