International Sign shows up everywhere from the Deaflympics to the United Nations, but most people, Deaf and hearing alike, know surprisingly little about how it actually works. Here are five facts that might surprise you.
1. It Started With a Name That Means “Oneness”
International Sign traces back to the very first World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), held in Rome in 1951, the same meeting where WFD itself was founded. Early efforts to build a unified sign system were called “Gestuno,” an Italian term roughly meaning “oneness of sign languages.” A commission later published a dictionary of about 1,500 standardized signs in the 1970s.
2. Nobody Grows Up Speaking It
Unlike a national sign language such as ASL or BSL, International Sign has no native signing community. No one learns IS from birth the way they might learn their country’s sign language at home. Instead, IS is picked up through exposure at international events, built from a shared, evolving vocabulary rather than a language passed down generationally.
3. The Original “Gestuno” Vocabulary Mostly Didn’t Stick
Here’s a twist: when Gestuno was first used at a WFD congress in Bulgaria in 1976, many Deaf participants reportedly found it difficult to understand. IS as it’s used today developed informally afterward, shaped by Deaf and hearing interpreters over time, and now has surprisingly little in common with that original 1970s vocabulary list.
4. It Officially Became “International Sign” in 2003
The name Gestuno gradually fell out of use as the language itself evolved, and WFD officially adopted the name “International Sign” in 2003 to reflect what the community had already been calling it informally for years.
5. Its Vocabulary Is Bigger Than You’d Think, But Still Flexible
Modern International Sign draws on a working vocabulary estimated at somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 signs, borrowed and adapted from various national sign languages around the world. But unlike a standardized language, IS doesn’t have fixed grammar rules everyone agrees on. Signers lean heavily on iconic signs, classifiers, and context to make themselves understood, which is part of why skilled IS interpreters are so highly valued at international events.
Why It Still Matters
International Sign may not be anyone’s native language, but it’s become one of the most important tools the global Deaf community has for connecting across borders, at conferences, sporting events, and international advocacy work alike. Understanding where it came from makes it easier to appreciate just how far it’s come.
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