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Swastika

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the symbol. For the town, see Swastika, Ontario.

The swastika in the decorative Hindu form.

The Administrative Office of Woljeongsa in South Korea.

The swastika was the official emblem of the Nazi Party, and is often used by modern Neo-Nazis.

Two swastikas on an ancient Greek Kantharos, Attica, ca. 780 BC. It is displayed at Staatliche

Antikensammlungen

The swastika (Sanskrit: ????????) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either

right-facing (?) form or its mirrored left-facing (?) form. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient India as well as Classical Antiquity. It remains widely used in Indian Religions, specifically in Hinduism, Buddhism and

Jainism.

Following a brief surge of popularity in Western culture, the swastika was adopted as a symbol of the

Nazi Party of Germany in 1920. After Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s, swastika was incorporated to the Nazi party flag, which was made the State Flag of Germany. As a result, the Swastika

became strongly associated with Nazism and related ideologies such as Fascism and White

Supremacism since the 1930s in the western world and is now largely stigmatized. It has notably

been outlawed in Germany if used as a symbol of Nazism. Many modern political extremists and

Neo-Nazi groups such as Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and Russian National Unity use stylised

swastikas or similar symbols.

Contents

[hide]

1 Name

2 Geometry

3 Origin hypotheses

4 Archaeological record

5 Historical use in the East

5.1 Buddhism

5.2 Hinduism

5.3 Jainism

5.4 Iran

5.5 Other Asian traditions

6 Native American traditions

7 Historical use in the West

7.1 Antiquity

7.1.1 Greco-Roman antiquity

7.1.2 Celtic antiquity

7.1.3 Germanic antiquity

7.2 Pre-Christian Europe and folk culture

7.2.1 Baltic

7.2.2 Slavic

7.2.3 Sami 7.3 Medieval and early modern Europe

8 Western use in the early 20th century

8.1 Iceland

8.2 Ireland

8.3 Finland

9 As the symbol of Nazism

10 Post-WWII stigmatization in Western countries

10.1 Germany

10.2 European Union

10.3 Legislation in other European countries

10.4 Latin America

10.5 Media

10.6 Satirical use

10.7 Controversies over Asian products

11 Contemporary use in Asia

11.1 South Asia

11.2 East Asia

11.3 Central Asia

12 New religious movements

13 References

13.1 Bibliography

13.2 Notes

14 External links

[edit] Name

The word swastika came from the Sanskrit word svastika, meaning any lucky or auspicious object,

and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of sumeaning "good, well" and asti "to be" svasti thus means "well-being." The suffix -ka either forms a

diminutive or intensifies the verbal meaning, and svastika might thus be translated literally as "that

which is associated with well-being," corresponding to "lucky charm" or "thing that is auspicious."[1] The word in this sense is first used in the Harivamsa.[2] As noted by Monier-Williams in

his Sanskrit-English dictionary, according to Alexander Cunningham, its shape represents a monogram formed by interlacing of the letters of the auspicious words su-astí (svasti) written in Ashokan

characters.[3]

The Sanskrit term has been in use in English since 1871, replacing gammadion (from Greek

?????????). Alternative historical English spellings of the Sanskrit word include suastika, swastica

and svastica.

Other names for the shape are:

crooked cross, hook cross or angled cross (Hebrew: ??? ???, German: Hakenkreuz).

cross cramponned, ~nnée, or ~nny, in heraldry, as each arm resembles a crampon or angle-iron

(German: Winkelmaßkreuz).

fylfot, chiefly in heraldry and architecture. The term is coined in the 19th century based on a

misunderstanding of a Renaissance manuscript. gammadion, tetragammadion (Greek: ??????????????), or cross gammadion (Latin: crux

gammata; French: croix gammée), as each arm resembles the Greek letter ? (gamma).

tetraskelion (Greek: ????????????), literally meaning "four legged", especially when composed of

four conjoined legs (compare triskelion (Greek: ??????????)).

The Tibetan swastika (?) is known as g-yung drung

The Buddhist sign has been standardised as a Chinese character ? (pinyin: wàn) and as such entered

various other East Asian languages such as Japanese where the symbol is called ?? (manji). The

swastika is included as part of the Chinese script in the form of the character "?" (pinyin: wàn) and

has Unicode encodings U+534D ? (left-facing) and U+5350 ? (right-facing).[4] In Unicode 5.2, four

swastika symbols were added to the Tibetan block: U+0FD5 ? (right-facing), U+0FD6 ? (left-facing),

U+0FD7 ? (right-facing with dots) and U+0FD8 ? (left-facing with dots).

[edit] Geometry

A right-facing swastika might be described as "clockwise" or "counter-clockwise".

Geometrically, the swastika can be regarded as an irregular icosagon or 20-sided polygon. The

proportions of the Nazi swastika were fixed based on a 5 × 5 diagonal grid.[5]

Characteristic is the 90° rotational symmetry and chirality, hence the absence of reflectional symmetry, and the existence of two versions of swastikas that are each other's mirror image.

The mirror-image forms are often described as:

clockwise and anti-clockwise;

left-facing and right-facing;

left-hand and right-hand.

"Left-facing" and "right-facing" are used mostly consistently referring to the upper arm of an upright

swastika facing either to the viewer's left (?) or right (?). The other two descriptions are ambiguous

as it is unclear whether they refer to the arms as leading or being dragged or whether their bending is

viewed outward or inward. However, "clockwise" usually refers to the "right-facing" swastika. The

terms are used inconsistently (sometimes even by the same writer), which is confusing and may

obfuscate an important point, that the rotation of the swastika may have symbolic relevance, although little is known about this symbolic relevance. Less ambiguous terms might be "clockwisepointing" and "counterclockwise-pointing."

Nazi ensigns had a through and through image, so both versions were present, one on each side, but

the Nazi flag on land was right-facing on both sides and at a 45° rotation.[6]

The name "sauwastika" is sometimes given to the left-facing form of the swastika (?).[7]

[edit] Origin hypotheses

The swastika is a repeating design, created by the edges of the reeds in a square basket-weave. Other

theories attempt to establish a connection via cultural diffusion or an explanation along the lines of

Carl Jung's collective unconscious.The genesis of the swastika symbol is often treated in conjunction with cross symbols in general,

such as the "sun wheel" of Bronze Age religion. Beyond its certain presence in the "proto-writing"

symbol systems emerging in the Neolithic,[8] nothing certain is known about the symbol's origin.

There are nevertheless a number of speculative hypotheses. One hypothesis is that the sun wheel,

cross symbols and the swastika share a common origin in simply symbolizing the four seasons,

where the division for 90-degree sections correspond to the solstices and equinoxes. This carries

most significance in establishing a calendar that is seen to be more advanced than the lunar calendar

(symbolized by the lunar crescent common to Islam) where the seasons drift from calendar year to

calendar year. The luni-solar solution for correcting season drift was to intercalate an extra month in

certain years to restore the lunar cycle to the solar-season cycle. The Star of David is thought to

originate as a symbol of that calendar system, where the two overlapping triangles are seen to form a

partition of 12 sections around the perimeter with a 13th section in the middle, representing the 12

and sometimes 13 months to a year. As such, the Christian cross, Jewish hexagram star and the

Muslim crescent moon are seen to have their origins in different views regarding which calendar

system is preferred for marking holy days. Groups in higher latitudes experience the seasons more

strongly, offering more advantage to the calendar represented by the swastika/cross.

Carl Sagan in his book Comet (1985) reproduces Han period Chinese manuscript (the Book of Silk,

2nd century BC) that shows comet tail varieties: most are variations on simple comet tails, but the

last shows the comet nucleus with four bent arms extending from it, recalling a swastika. Sagan

suggests that in antiquity a comet could have approached so close to Earth that the jets of gas streaming from it, bent by the comet's rotation, became visible, leading to the adoption of the swastika as a

symbol across the world.[9] Bob Kobres in Comets and the Bronze Age Collapse (1992) contends

that the swastika like comet on the Han Dynasty silk comet atlas was labeled a "long tailed pheasant

star" (Di-Xing) because of its resemblance to a bird's foot or track. Kobres goes on to suggest an

association of mythological birds and comets also outside China.

In Life's Other Secret (1999), Ian Stewart suggests the ubiquitous swastika pattern arises when

parallel waves of neural activity sweep across the visual cortex during states of altered consciousness, producing a swirling swastika-like image, due to the way quadrants in the field of vision are

mapped to opposite areas in the brain.[10]

Alexander Cunningham suggested that the Buddhist use of the shape arose from a combination of

Brahmi characters abbreviating the words su astí.[3]

[edit] Archaeological record

The Samarra bowl, at the Pergamonmuseum, Berlin.[11]

Seals from the Indus Valley Civilization preserved at the British Museum

Another early attestation is on a pottery bowl found at Samarra, dated to as early as 4000 BC. Joseph

Campbell in an essay on The Neolithic-Paleolithic Contrast cites an ornament on a Late Paleolithic

(10,000 BC) mammoth ivory bird figurine found near Kiev as the only known occurrence of such a

symbol predating the Neolithic.[12]

The swastika appears only very rarely in the archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia. It is found on

prehistoric pottery, of which the Samarra bowl is the oldest known example, and on a number of

early seal impressions, but then disappears from the record for the remainder of the Near Eastern

Bronze Age.[13] In India, Bronze Age swastika symbols were found at Lothal and Harappa, on IndusValley seals.[14]

Swastikas have also been found on pottery in archaeological digs in Africa, in the area of Kush and

on pottery at the Jebel Barkal temples,[15] in Iron Age designs of the northern Caucasus (Koban

culture), and in Neolithic China in the Majiabang,[16] Dawenkou and Xiaoheyan cultures.[17] Other

Iron Age attestations of the swastika can be associated with Indo-European cultures such as the IndoIranians, Celts, Greeks, Macedonians and Germanic peoples and Slavs. The Tierwirbel (the German

for "animal whorl" or "whirl of animals"[18]) is a characteristic motive in Bronze Age Central Asia,

the Eurasian Steppe, and later also in Iron Age Scythian and European (Baltic[19] and Germanic)

culture, showing rotational symmetric arrangement of an animal motive, often four birds' heads.

Even wider diffusion of this "Asiatic" theme has been proposed, to the Pacific and even North

America (especially Moundville).[20]

[edit] Historical use in the East

The swastika is a historical sacred symbol in Indian religions. It first appears in the archaeological

record here around[21] 2500 BC in the Indus Valley Civilization. It rose to importance in Buddhism

during the Mauryan Empire and in Hinduism with the decline of Buddhism in India during the Gupta

Empire. With the spread of Buddhism, the Buddhist swastika reached Tibet and China. The symbol

was also introduced to Balinese Hinduism by Hindu kings. The use of the swastika by the Bön faith

of Tibet, as well as later syncretic religions, such as Cao Dai of Vietnam and Falun Gong of China,

can also be traced to Buddhist influence.

[edit] Buddhism

Buddhism originated in the 5th century BCE and spread throughout the Indian subcontinent in the

3rd century BCE (Maurya Empire).

The swastika symbol (right-hand) is alleged[citation needed] to have been stamped on Gautama

Buddha's chest by his initiates after his death. It is known as The Heart's Seal.[citation needed] The

swastika figures on the Pillars of Ashoka.

With the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, the Buddhist swastika spread to Tibet and China.

Known as a "yung drung"[22] in ancient Tibet, it was a graphical representation of eternity.[23]

The paired swastika symbols are included, at least since the Liao Dynasty, as part of the Chinese

language, the symbolic sign for the character ? or ? (wàn in Mandarin, man in Korean, Cantonese

and Japanese, va.n in Vietnamese) meaning "all" or "eternality" (lit. myriad) and as ?, which is

seldom used. The swastika marks the beginning of many Buddhist scriptures. The swastika (in either

orientation) appears on the chest of some statues of Gautama Buddha and is often incised on the

soles of the feet of the Buddha in statuary.

[edit] Hinduism

Swastika on the doorstep of an apartment in Maharashtra, India

The swastika is one of the 108 symbols of Hindu deity Vishnu and represents the Sun's rays, upon

which life depends.[citation needed] Its use as a Sun symbol can first be seen in its representation of

the god Surya.[citation needed] The swastika is used in all Hindu yantras and religious

designs.[citation needed]Swastika is also considered as a symbolic representation of Ganesha, in Hinduism. Ganesha as per

Hindu rites is offered first offerings and as such in every pooja, at first Swastika is made with

Sindoor during any religious rites of Hindu.

Among the Hindus of Bengal, it is common to see the name "swastika" (Bengali: ???????? shostik)

applied to a slightly different symbol, which has the same significance as the common swastika, and

both symbols are used as auspicious signs. This symbol looks something like a stick figure of a

human being.[24]

[edit] Jainism

Jain swastika

Jainism gives even more prominence to the swastika than does Hinduism. It is a symbol of the

seventh Jina (Saint), the Tirthankara Suparsva. In the Svetambar (Devanagari: ??????????) Jain

tradition, it is also one of the symbols of the ashta-mangalas. It is considered to be one of the 24

auspicious marks and the emblem of the seventh arhat of the present age.[citation needed] All Jain

temples and holy books must contain the swastika and ceremonies typically begin and end with

creating a swastika mark several times with rice around the altar.

Jains use rice to make a swastika (also known as "Saathiyo" or "Saathiya" in the state of Gujarat,

India) in front of statues in a temple. Jains then put an offering on this swastika, usually a ripe or

dried fruit, a sweet (Hindi: ?????, Mithai), or a coin or currency note.

[edit] Iran

Golden necklace of three Swastikas found in Marlik, Gilan Province Iran, dates back to first millennium B.C.

In Iran, Golden necklace of three Swastika in Marlik, Gilan province Iran, dates back to first millennium B.C probably symbolising Indian influence there.[citation needed]

[edit] Other Asian traditions

During the Chinese Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian (684-704) decreed that the swastika would be

used as an alternative symbol of the Sun.

The Mandarin "wan" is a homophone for the number 10,000 and is commonly used to represent the

whole of Creation, e.g. 'the myriad things' in the Dao De Jing.

In Japan, the swastika is called manji. Since the Middle Ages, it has been used as a coat of arms by

various Japanese families such as Tsugaru clan, Hachisuka clan or around 60 clans that belong to

Tokugawa clan.[25] On Japanese maps, a swastika (left-facing and horizontal) is used to mark the

location of a Buddhist temple. The right-facing manji is often referred to as the gyaku manji (??, lit.

"reverse manji") or migi manji (??, lit. "right manji") , and can also be called kagi ju-ji (literally

"hook cross").

In Chinese and Japanese art, the swastika is often found as part of a repeating pattern. One common

pattern, called sayagata in Japanese, comprises left- and right-facing swastikas joined by lines.[26]As the negative space between the lines has a distinctive shape, the sayagata pattern is sometimes

called the "key fret" motif in English.

[edit] Native American traditions

Chilocco Indian Agricultural School basketball team in 1909

S.E.C.C. design from Oklahoma

The swastika shape was used by some Native Americans. It has been found in excavations of Mississippian-era sites in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. It is frequently used as a motif on objects

associated with the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (S.E.C.C.). It was also widely used by many

southwestern tribes, most notably the Navajo. Among various tribes, the swastika carried different

meanings. To the Hopi it represented the wandering Hopi clan; to the Navajo it was one symbol for a

whirling log (tsil no'oli), a sacred image representing a legend that was used in healing rituals (after

learning of the Nazi association, the Navajo discontinued use of the symbol).[27] A brightly colored

First Nations saddle featuring swastika designs is on display at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in

Canada.[28]

A swastika shape is a symbol in the culture of the Kuna people of Kuna Yala, Panama. In Kuna

tradition, it symbolizes the octopus that created the world; its tentacles, pointing to the four cardinal

points.[29]

In February, 1925, the Kuna revolted vigorously against Panamanian suppression of their culture,

and assumed autonomy in 1930; the flag they adopted at that time is based on the swastika shape,

and remains the official flag of Kuna Yala. A number of variations on the flag have been used over

the years: red top and bottom bands instead of orange were previously used, and in 1942 a ring

(representing the traditional Kuna nose-ring) was added to the center of the flag to distance it from

the symbol of the Nazi party.[30]

[edit] Historical use in the West

In Bronze Age Europe, the "Sun cross" (a three- or four-armed hooked cross in a circle) appears

frequently, often interpreted as a solar symbol. Swastika shapes have been found on numerous

artifacts from Iron Age Europe (Greco-Roman, Illyrian, Etruscan, Baltic, Celtic, Germanic, Georgian

Bordjgali and Slavic). This prehistoric use seems to be reflected in the appearance of the symbol in

various folk cultures of Europe.

[edit] Antiquity

[edit] Greco-Roman antiquity

Ancient Achean "doll" with human, solar and tetragammadion (swastika) symbols. Louvre Museum,

Paris.

Greek helmet with swastika marks on the top part (circled), 350-325 BC from Taranto, found at

Herculanum. Cabinet des Médailles, Paris.

Etruscan pendant with swastika symbols, Bolsena, Italy, 700-650 BCE. Louvre Museum.

Hands of God, a symbol of early ethnic pre-Christian religions in central Europe

Ancient Greek architectural, clothing and coin designs are replete with single or interlinking swastika motifs. There are also found gold plate fibulae from the 8th century BC decorated with an

engraved swastika.[31] Related symbols in classical Western architecture include the cross, the

three-legged triskele or triskelion and the rounded lauburu. The swastika symbol is also known in

these contexts by a number of names, especially gammadion.[32]In Greco-Roman art and architecture, and in Romanesque and Gothic art in the West, isolated swastikas are relatively rare, and the swastika is more commonly found as a repeated element in a border or

tessellation. The swastika often represented perpetual motion, reflecting the design of a rotating

windmill or watermill. A meander of connected swastikas makes up the large band that surrounds the

Augustan Ara Pacis. A design of interlocking swastikas is one of several tessellations on the floor of

the cathedral of Amiens, France.[33] A border of linked swastikas was a common Roman architectural motif,[34] and can be seen in more recent buildings as a neoclassical element. A swastika

border is one form of meander, and the individual swastikas in such a border are sometimes called

Greek keys.[35]

[edit] Celtic antiquity

The bronze frontspiece of a ritual pre-Christian (c. 350-50 BC) shield found in the River Thames

near Battersea Bridge (hence "Battersea Shield") is embossed with 27 swastikas in bronze and red

enamel.[36] An Ogham stone found in Anglish, Co Kerry (CIIC 141) was modified into an early

Christian gravestone, and was decorated with a cross pattée and two swastikas.[37] At the Northern

edge of Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire, there is a swastika-shaped pattern engraved in a stone known

as the Swastika Stone.[38]

[edit] Germanic antiquity

Main article: Swastika (Germanic Iron Age)

The swastika shape (also called a fylfot) appears on various Germanic Migration Period and Viking

Age artifacts, such as the 3rd century Værløse Fibula from Zealand, Denmark, the Gothic spearhead

from Brest-Litovsk, Russia, the 9th century Snoldelev Stone from Ramsø, Denmark, and numerous

Migration Period bracteates drawn left-facing or right-facing.[39]

A comb with a Swastika found in Nydam Mose, Denmark

The pagan Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo, England, contained numerous items bearing the

swastika, now housed in the collection of the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.[40] The Swastika is clearly marked on a hilt and sword belt found at Bifrons in Kent, in a grave

of about the 6th century.

Hilda Ellis Davidson theorized that the swastika symbol was associated with Thor, possibly representing his hammer Mjolnir - symbolic of thunder - and possibly being connected to the Bronze Age

sun wheel.[40] Davidson cites "many examples" of the swastika symbol from Anglo-Saxon graves of

the pagan period, with particular prominence on cremation urns from the cemeteries of East

Anglia.[40] Some of the swastikas on the items, on display at the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, are depicted with such care and art that, according to Davidson, it must have

possessed special significance as a funerary symbol.[40] The runic inscription on the 8th-century

Sæbø sword has been taken as evidence of the swastika as a symbol of Thor in Norse paganism.

[edit] Pre-Christian Europe and folk culture

[edit] Baltic

The swastika is one of the most common symbols used throughout Baltic art. In Latvian the symbol

is known as either Ugunskrusts, the "Fire cross" (rotating counter-clockwise), or Pe-rkonkrusts, the

"Thunder cross" (rotating clock-wise), and was mainly associated with Pe-rkons, the god of Thunder

and justice. It was also occasionally related to the Sun, as well as Dievs (the god of creation), Laima(the goddess of destiny and fate). The swastika is featured on many distaffs, dowry chests, cloths and

other items. It is most intricately developed in woven belts.[citation needed]

[edit] Slavic

Swastika in Kruszwica, Poland

The swastika shape was also present in pre-Christian Slavic mythology. It was dedicated to the sun

god Svarog[41][42][43][44][45] (Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian ??????) and called kolovrat,

(Slovenian kolovrat, Bosnian kolovrat, Croatian kolovrat, Polish ko?owrót, Belarusian ????????,

Russian and Ukrainian ?????????, Serbian ????????/kolovrat) or swarzyca. In early medieval Europe, the use of swastikas for decoration of pottery and other wares was most frequent in Slavic

lands. It first appears within the context of Slavic artefacts in the lower Danube region (modern

Wallachia and Moldavia) where early Slavs had contacts with Sarmatian peoples. This practice was

then not merely adopted, but "transformed into a new, distinct quality of the symbolic culture of the

Slavs."[46]

For the Slavs the swastika is a magic sign manifesting the power and majesty of the sun and fire. It

was usually called "The wheel of Svarog." It was often used as an ornament decorating ritualistic

utensils of a cult cinerary urns with ashes of the dead.[41][42][43][44][45] It was the symbol of

power (the swastika seen on the coins of Mieszko I) both lay and divine, because it was often placed

on altars in pagan temples.[citation needed]

At the start of the Renaissance, swastika ornaments disappeared from utensils but swastikas were

being used by Slavs. It became a popular ornament on Easter eggs and in wayside shrines in folk

culture.[43][44] This ornament still existed in 1940-50.

[edit] Sami

An object very much like a hammer or a double axe is depicted among the magical symbols on the

drums of Sami shamans, used in their religious ceremonies before Christianity was established. The

name of the Sami thunder god was Horagalles, thought to be derived from "Old Man Thor" (Þórr

karl'). Sometimes on the drums, a male figure with a hammer-like object in either hand is shown, and

sometimes it is more like a cross with crooked ends, or a swastika.[40]

[edit] Medieval and early modern Europe

A mandala-like meditative image from the Kabbalistic work "Parashat Eliezer"

The swastika mark on the tower of Armenian fortress Ani (10th century AD)

In Christianity, the swastika is used as a hooked version of the Christian Cross, the symbol of

Christ's victory over death. Some Christian churches built in the Romanesque and Gothic eras are

decorated with swastikas, carrying over earlier Roman designs. Swastikas are prominently displayed

in a mosaic in the St. Sophia church of Kiev, Ukraine dating from the 12th century. They also appear

as a repeating ornamental motif on a tomb in the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan. A proposed direct

link between it and a swastika floor mosaic in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens, which was built

on top of a pagan site at Amiens, France in the 13th century, is considered unlikely. The stole worn

by a priest in the 1445 painting of the Seven Sacraments by Roger van der Weyden presents the

swastika form simply as one way of depicting the cross. Swastikas also appear on the vestments on

the effigy of Bishop William Edington (d. 1366) in Winchester Cathedral.

In the Polish First Republic the symbol of the swastika was also popular with the nobility. Accordingto chronicles, the Rus' prince Oleg, who in the 9th century attacked Constantinople, nailed his shield

(which had a large red swastika painted on it) to the city's gates.[43] Several noble houses, e.g.

Boreyko, Borzym, and Radziechowski from Ruthenia, also had Swastikas as their coat of arms. The

family reached its greatness in the 14th and 15th centuries and its crest can be seen in many heraldry

books produced at that time. The Swastika was also a heraldic symbol, for example on the Boreyko

coat of arms, used by noblemen in Poland and Ukraine. In the 19th century the swastika was one of

the Russian empire's symbols; it was even placed in coins as a background to the Russian

eagle.[44][45]

An unusual swastika, composed of the Hebrew letters Aleph and Resh, appears in the 18th century

Kabbalistic work "Parashat Eliezer" by Rabbi Eliezer Fischl of Strizhov, a commentary on the

obscure ancient eschatological book "Karnayim", ascribed to Rabbi Aharon of Kardina. The symbol

is enclosed by a circle and surrounded by a cyclic hymn in Aramaic. The hymn, which refers explicitly to the power of the Sun, as well as the shape of the symbol, shows strong solar symbolism.

According to the book, this mandala-like symbol is meant to help a mystic to contemplate on the

cyclic nature and structure of the Universe. The letters are the initial and final characters of the

Hebrew word, ????, or "light".

Freemasons also gave the swastika symbol importance. In medieval Northern European Runic

Script, a counter-clockwise swastika denotes the letter 'G,' and could stand for the important Freemason terms God, Great Architect of the Universe, or Geometry.[47]

[edit] Western use in the early 20th century

Main article: Western use of the swastika in the early 20th century

The aviator Matilde Moisant (1878-1964) wearing a swastika medallion in 1912; the symbol was

popular as a good luck charm with early aviators

In the Western world, the symbol experienced a resurgence following the archaeological work in the

late 19th century of Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the symbol in the site of ancient Troy and

associated it with the ancient migrations of Proto-Indo-Europeans. He connected it with similar

shapes found on ancient pots in Germany, and theorized that the swastika was a "significant religious

symbol of our remote ancestors", linking Germanic, Greek and Indo-Iranian cultures.[48][49] By the

early 20th century, it was used worldwide and was regarded as a symbol of good luck and success.

The work of Schliemann soon became intertwined with the völkisch movements, for which the

swastika was a symbol of the "Aryan race", a concept that came to be equated by theorists such as

Alfred Rosenberg with a Nordic master race originating in northern Europe. Since its adoption by the

National Socialist German Worker's Party of Adolf Hitler, the swastika has been associated with

Nazism, fascism, racism (white supremacy), the Axis powers in World War II, and the Holocaust in

much of the West. The swastika remains a core symbol of Neo-Nazi groups, and is used regularly by

activist groups to signify their opinion of supposed Nazi-like behavior of organizations and individuals they oppose.

Carlsberg's Elephant Tower

The Benedictine choir school at Lambach Abbey, Upper Austria, which Hitler attended for several

months as a boy, had a swastika chiseled into the monastery portal and also the wall above the spring

grotto in the courtyard by 1868. Their origin was the personal coat of arms of Abbot Theoderich

Hagn of the monastery in Lambach, which bore a golden swastika with slanted points on a bluefield.[50] The Lambach swastika is probably of Medieval origin. The Danish brewery company

Carlsberg Group used the swastika as a logo[51] from the 19th Century until the middle of the 1930s

when it was discontinued because of association with the Nazi Party in neighbouring Germany.

However, the swastika carved on elephants at the entrance gates of the company's headquarters in

Copenhagen in 1901 can still be seen today.[52]

The swastika is seen on binders of pre-Nazi era publications of works by Rudyard Kipling. Both left

and right orientations were used.

[edit] Iceland

Eimskip (founded in 1914), a major import/export company in Iceland once used the swastika as

their company logo. Although they have since replaced their logo, the swastika remained on their old

headquarters, located in downtown Reykjavík. As tourism to the country grew, it often became a

subject of misunderstanding when foreign tourists targeted the building as a place of Nazi support

and antisemitism.[citation needed] When the Radisson SAS hotel franchise bought the building, the

company was banned from destroying the symbol since the building was on the list of historical sites

in Iceland. A compromise was made when the company was allowed to cover the symbol with the

numbers 1919 which was the year when the building was erected.[53]

[edit] Ireland

The Swastika Laundry was a laundry founded in 1912, located on Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, a

district of Dublin, Ireland. In the fifties Heinrich Böll came across a van belonging to the company

while he was staying in Ireland, leading to some awkward moments before he could realize the

company was older than Nazism and totally unrelated to it. The chimney of the boiler-house of the

laundry still stands, but the laundry has been redeveloped.[54][55]

[edit] Finland

Variation of tursaansydän

In Finland the swastika was often used in traditional folk art products, as a decoration or magical

symbol on textiles and wood. Certain types of symbols which incorporated the swastika were used to

decorate wood; such symbols are called tursaansydän and mursunsydän in Finnish. Tursaansydän

was often used until 18th century, when it was mostly replaced by a simple swastika.[56]

Logo of Lotta Svärd

The tursaansydän is used by scouts in some instances[57] and a student organization.[58] The village

of Tursa uses the tursaansydän as a kind of a certificate of authenticity of products made there.[59]

Traditional textiles are still being made with swastikas as a part of traditional ornaments.

Present-day flag (from 1958) and its pole of the Training Air Wing with three swastikas

Suomen ilmavoimien esikunnan joukko-osastotunnus.svg Suomen ilmavoimien Lentosotakoulun

joukko-osastotunnus.svg

Present-day brigade marks of the Finnish Air Force staff and the Training Air Wing

The Finnish Air Force uses the swastika as an emblem, originally introduced in 1918. The swastika

was also used by the women's paramilitary organization Lotta Svärd, which was banned in 1944 in

accordance with the Moscow Armistice between Finland and the allied Soviet Union and Britain.

The President of Finland is the grand master of the Order of the White Rose. According to the proto-col, the president shall wear the Grand Cross of the White Rose with collar on formal occasions. The

original design of the collar, decorated with 9 swastikas, dates from 1918 by the artist Akseli GallenKallela. The Grand Cross with swastika collar has been awarded 41 times to foreign heads of state.

To avoid misunderstandings, the swastika decorations were replaced by fir crosses at the decision of

president Urho Kekkonen in 1963 after it became known that the President of France Charles De

Gaulle was uncomfortable with the swastika collar.

Grootkruis en ster vredesklasse van het Vrijheidskruis.jpg

Grand Cross

with star of

the Order of

the Cross of

Liberty

Also a design by Gallen-Kallela of 1918, the Cross of Liberty has a swastika pattern in its arms. The

Cross of Liberty is depicted in the upper left corner of the standard of the President of Finland.[60]

However, in the flag is only the Cross of Liberty of 3rd Class and overall, the highest Finnish decoration is the Grand Cross of the White Rose with Collar, not the Grand Cross of the Cross of Liberty.

In the internal ranking the 1st class Mannerheim cross takes the second place after Grand Cross and

the 2nd class Mannerheim cross takes the fourth place. The 2nd classa Mannerheim cross could be

admitted to anyone regardless of the military rank and therefore it became the symbol of the common

national goal related to fieldmarshal (1933-) Mannerheim, the later marshal of Finland (1942-). The

same Cross of liberty with swastika is still seen in the coat of arms of Mikkeli which where the

mashal Mannerheim and the general headquarters situated on both the Winter war and Continuation

war.

Coat of arms on the town of Mikkeli

In December 2007, a silver replica of the WWII Finnish air defences relief ring decorated with

swastika became available as a part of a charity campaign.[61]

The original war-time idea was that the public swap their precious metal rings for the State air

defences relief ring, made of iron.

[edit] As the symbol of Nazism

Since World War II, the swastika is often associated with the flag of Nazi Germany and the Nazi

Party in the Western world. Prior to this association, swastikas were used throughout the western

world.

Plane of Ernst Udet used for aerobatic shows held during the 1936 Summer Olympics on display in

the Polish Aviation Museum

Further information: Nazi symbolism

In the wake of widespread popular usage, the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche

Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) formally adopted the swastika (in German: Hakenkreuz (hook-cross)) in

1920. This was used on the party's flag (right), badge, and armband. It had also been used unofficially by its predecessor, the German Workers Party, Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP).[citation needed]

In his 1925 work Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler wrote that:

I myself, meanwhile, after innumerable attempts, had laid down a final form; a flag with a redbackground, a white disk, and a black swastika in the middle. After long trials I also found a definite

proportion between the size of the flag and the size of the white disk, as well as the shape and thickness of the swastika.

When Hitler created a flag for the Nazi Party, he sought to incorporate both the swastika and "those

revered colors expressive of our homage to the glorious past and which once brought so much honor

to the German nation." (Red, white, and black were the colors of the flag of the old German Empire.)

He also stated: "As National Socialists, we see our program in our flag. In red, we see the social idea

of the movement; in white, the nationalistic idea; in the swastika, the mission of the struggle for the

victory of the Aryan man, and, by the same token, the victory of the idea of creative work."[62]

The swastika was also understood as "the symbol of the creating, acting life" (das Symbol des

schaffenden, wirkenden Lebens) and as "race emblem of Germanism" (Rasseabzeichen des

Germanentums).[63]

The use of the swastika was associated by Nazi theorists with their conjecture of Aryan cultural

descent of the German people. Following the Nordicist version of the Aryan invasion theory, the

Nazis claimed that the early Aryans of India, from whose Vedic tradition the swastika sprang, were

the prototypical white invaders. The concept of racial purity was an ideology central to Nazism,

though it is now considered unscientific. For Alfred Rosenberg, the Aryans of India were both a

model to be imitated and a warning of the dangers of the spiritual and racial "confusion" that, he

believed, arose from the close proximity of races. Thus, they saw fit to co-opt the sign as a symbol of

the Aryan master race. The use of the swastika as a symbol of the Aryan race dates back to writings

of Emile Burnouf. Following many other writers, the German nationalist poet Guido von List believed it to be a uniquely Aryan symbol. Before the Nazis, the swastika was already in use as a

symbol of German völkisch nationalist movements (Völkische Bewegung). In Deutschland Erwache

(ISBN 0-912138-69-6), Ulric of England (sic) says:

[...] what inspired Hitler to use the swastika as a symbol for the NSDAP was its use by the Thule

Society (German: Thule-Gesellschaft) since there were many connections between them and the

DAP ... from 1919 until the summer of 1921 Hitler used the special Nationalsozialistische library of

Dr. Friedrich Krohn, a very active member of the Thule-Gesellschaft ... Dr. Krohn was also the

dentist from Sternberg who was named by Hitler in Mein Kampf as the designer of a flag very

similar to one that Hitler designed in 1920 ... during the summer of 1920, the first party flag was

shown at Lake Tegernsee ... these home-made ... early flags were not preserved, the Ortsgruppe

München (Munich Local Group) flag was generally regarded as the first flag of the Party.

José Manuel Erbez says:

The first time the swastika was used with an "Aryan" meaning was on December 25, 1907, when

the self-named Order of the New Templars, a secret society founded by [Adolf Joseph] Lanz von

Liebenfels, hoisted at Werfenstein Castle (Austria) a yellow flag with a swastika and four fleurs-delys.[64]

However, Liebenfels was drawing on an already established use of the symbol. On March 14, 1933,

shortly after Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany, the NSDAP flag was hoisted alongside

Germany's national colors. It was adopted as the sole national flag on September 15, 1935 (see NaziGermany).

The swastika was used for badges and flags throughout Nazi Germany, particularly for government

and military organizations, but also for "popular" organizations such as the Reichsbund Deutsche

Jägerschaft (German Hunting Society).[65]

While the DAP and the NSDAP had used both right-facing and left-facing swastikas, the right-facing

swastika was used consistently from 1920 onwards. However, Ralf Stelter notes that the swastika

flag used on land had a right-facing swastika on both sides, while the ensign (naval flag) had it

printed through so that a left-facing swastika would be seen when looking at the ensign with the

flagpole to the right.[66]

Several variants are found:

a 45° black swastika on a white disc as in the NSDAP and national flags;

a 45° black swastika on a white lozenge (e.g., Hitler Youth[67]);

a 45° black swastika with a white outline was painted on the tail of aircraft of the Luftwaffe;

a 45° black swastika outlined by thin white and black lines on a white disc (e.g., the German War

Ensign[68]);

an upright black swastika outlined by thin white and black lines on a white disc (e.g., Personal

standard of Adolf Hitler in which a gold wreath encircles the swastika; the Schutzstaffel; and the

Reichsdienstflagge, in which a black circle encircles the swastika);

small gold, silver, black, or white 45° swastikas, often lying on or being held by an eagle, on many

badges and flags.[69]

Divisional insignia of 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland

a swastika with curved outer arms forming a broken circle, as worn by the SS Nordland Division.[70]

There were attempts to amalgamate Nazi and Hindu use of the swastika, notably by the French writer

Savitri Devi who declared Hitler an Avatar of Vishnu (see Nazi mysticism).

[edit] Post-WWII stigmatization in Western countries

Because of its use by Nazi Germany, the swastika since the 1930s has been largely associated with

Nazism and white supremacy in most of the Western countries. As a result, all of its use, or its use as

a Nazi or hate symbol is prohibited in some jurisdictions. Because of the stigma attached to the

symbol, many buildings that have contained the symbol as decoration have had the symbol removed.

Steven Heller, of the School of Visual Arts, has argued that from the moment it was "misappropriated" by the Nazis, it became a mark and weapon of hate, and could not be redeemed.[71]

[edit] Germany

Further information: Strafgesetzbuch § 86a

The German (and Austrian) postwar criminal code makes the public showing of the Hakenkreuz (the

swastika) and other Nazi symbols illegal and punishable, except for scholarly reasons. It is even

censored from the lithographs on boxes of model kits, and the decals that come in the box. Modellers

seeking an accurate rendition often have to either stencil on the marking, or purchase separate decals.It is also censored from the reprints of 1930s railway timetables published by the Reichsbahn. The

eagle remains, but appears to be holding a solid black circle between its talons. The swastikas on

Hindu and Jain temples are exempt, as religious symbols cannot be banned in Germany.

A German fashion company was investigated for using traditional British-made folded leather buttons after complaints that they resembled swastikas. In response, Esprit destroyed two hundred

thousand catalogues.[72][73]

A controversy was stirred by the decision of several police departments to begin inquiries against

anti-fascists.[74] In late 2005 police raided the offices of the punk rock label and mail order store

"Nix Gut Records" and confiscated merchandise depicting crossed-out swastikas and fists smashing

swastikas. In 2006 the Stade police department started an inquiry against anti-fascist youths using a

placard depicting a person dumping a swastika into a trashcan. The placard was displayed in opposition to the campaign of right-wing nationalist parties for local elections.[75]

On Friday, March 17, 2006, a member of the Bundestag, Claudia Roth reported herself to the German police for displaying a crossed-out swastika in multiple demonstrations against Neo-Nazis, and

subsequently got the Bundestag to suspend her immunity from prosecution. She intended to show the

absurdity of charging anti-fascists with using fascist symbols: "We don't need prosecution of nonviolent young people engaging against right-wing extremism." On March 15, 2007, the Federal

Court of Justice of Germany (Bundesgerichtshof) holding that the crossed-out symbols were "clearly

directed against a revival of national-socialist endeavors", thereby settling the dispute for the future.[76][77][78]

[edit] European Union

The European Union's Executive Commission proposed a European Union-wide anti-racism law in

2001, but European Union states failed to agree on the balance between prohibiting racism and

freedom of expression.[79] An attempt to ban the swastika across the EU in early 2005 failed after

objections from the British Government and others. In early 2007, while Germany held the European

Union presidency, Berlin proposed that the European Union should follow German Criminal Law

and criminalize the denial of the Holocaust and the display of Nazi symbols including the swastika,

which is based on the Ban on the Symbols of Unconstitutional Organisations Act. This led to an

opposition campaign by Hindu groups across Europe against a ban on the swastika. They pointed out

that the swastika has been around for 5,000 years as a symbol of peace.[80][81] The proposal to ban

the swastika was dropped by Berlin from the proposed European Union wide anti-racism laws on

January 29, 2007.[79]

[edit] Legislation in other European countries

In Hungary, it is a criminal misdemeanour to publicly display "totalitarian symbols", including the

swastika, the SS insignia and the Arrow Cross, punishable by fine.[82] Display for academic, educational, artistic or journalistic reasons is allowed. Note that the communist symbols of hammer and

sickle and the red star are also regarded as a totalitarian symbols and have the same restriction by

Hungarian criminal law.

In Poland, public display of Nazi symbols, including the Nazi swastika, is a criminal of fence

punishable by up to eight years of imprisonment.[83]

[edit] Latin America The use of the swastika or any Nazi symbol, their manufacture, distribution or broadcasting, with

the intent to propagate Nazism is a crime in Brazil as dictated by article 20, paragraph 1, of federal

statute 7.716, passed in 1989. The penalty is a two to five years prison term and a fine.[84]

The flag of the Kuna Yala autonomous territory of Panama is based on a swastika design. In 1942

a ring was added to the centre of the flag to differentiate it from the symbol of the Nazi party (this

version subsequently fell into disuse).[30]

[edit] Media

In 2010, Microsoft officially spoke out against the use of the swastika in the first-person shooter Call

of Duty: Black Ops. In Black Ops, players are allowed to customize their name tags to represent,

essentially, whatever they want. The swastika can be created and used, but Stephen Toulouse, director of Xbox Live policy and enforcement, stated that players with the symbol on their name tag will

be banned (if someone reports as inappropriate) from Xbox Live.[85]

[edit] Satirical use

A book featuring "120 Funny Swastika Cartoons" was published in 2008 by New York Cartoonist

Sam Gross. The author said he created the cartoons in response to excessive news coverage given to

swastika vandals, that his intent "...is to reduce the swastika to something humorous."[86]

The powerful symbolism acquired by the swastika has often been used in graphic design and propaganda as a means of drawing Nazi comparisons; examples include the cover of Stuart Eizenstat's

2003 book Imperfect Justice,[87] publicity materials for Constantin Costa-Gavras's 2002 film

Amen,[88] and a billboard that was erected opposite the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, in

2004, which juxtaposed images of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse pictures with a swastika.

[edit] Controversies over Asian products

In recent years, controversy has erupted when consumer goods bearing the symbol have been exported (often unintentionally) to North America.

When a ten-year-old boy in Lynbrook, New York bought a set of Pokémon cards imported from

Japan in 1999, his parents complained after finding that two of the cards contained the Manji symbol

which is the mirror image of the Nazi swastika. This also caused a lot of concern amongst fans from

Jewish communities. Nintendo of America announced that the cards would be discontinued, explaining that what was acceptable in one culture was not necessarily so in another; their action was welcomed by the Anti-Defamation League who recognised that there was no intention to be offensive

but said that international commerce meant that "isolating [the Swastika] in Asia would just create