Swastika
The swastika is a cross with its arms bent 90° to either right or left. It is usually oriented horizontally or at a 45° angle. Geometrically, the swastika might be regarded as an irregular icosagon, a 20-sided polygon. Its Indian form typically features a dot in each quadrant. The swastika has been an important device in Hindu, Buddhist, Japanese, Navajo, Norse, and many other cultures. The symbol was adopted by the Nazi Party in Germany in the 1930s. Due to the Nazi Party's actions in World War II, the swastika has come to be seen as signifying Nazism in the Western world.
The word is from the Sanskrit 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 su- (cognate with Greek ευ-), meaning "good, well" and asti a verbal abstract to the root as "to be"; svasti thus means "well-being". The suffix -ka forms a diminutive, and svastika might thus be translated literally as "little thing associated with well-being", corresponding roughly to "lucky charm".
Meanings of swastikas
The swastika appears in art and design throughout human history, symbolising many different things; such as luck, Surya (the sun), Brahma, or the Hindu concept of samsara.
The swastika is used primarily as a symbol by Hindus — it was first mentioned in the Vedas, the holy texts of Hinduism — but transferred to followers of other Indic religions like Buddhists and Jains.
A possibly spurious modern tradition has it that only a right-facing or counterclockwise swastika (as depicted above) is a good luck symbol, whereas a left-facing or clockwise swastika is a bad omen, labelled a sauwastika. There is little evidence of this distinction in Hindu history from which it is derived and, although the "standard" form is the right-facing swastika, Hindus all over India and Nepal still use the symbol in both orientations for the sake of balance. Buddhists almost always use the left-facing swastika.
In the early twentieth century the National Socialist German Workers Party adopted the swastika as its emblem and since World War II, most Westerners see it as solely a fascist symbol, leading to incorrect assumptions about its pre-Nazi use.
Origin of the swastika
The swastika appears in many world cultures. One reason may simply be its symmetry and simplicity which might have led to its independent development by many cultures.
Another explanation is suggested by Carl Sagan in his book Comet. Sagan reproduces an ancient Chinese manuscript 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, showing 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. While attractive, there is no strong evidence to prove this theory.
Alternative names
Standard transliteration of the Sanskrit word is svastika. Alternative (former) spellings include suastika and svastica.
Alternative names in English are:
- crooked cross.
- cross cramponned, ~nnée, or ~nny (in heraldry), as each arm resembles a crampon or angle-iron. (Compare Winkelmaßkreuz in German.)
- cross gammadion or just gammadion, as each arm resembles the Greek letter Γ (gamma). (Compare croiz/croix gammée in Old French/French, cruz gamada in Spanish.)
- fylfot (in heraldry and architecture), from the notion common among nineteenth-century antiquarians, but based on only a single 1500 manuscript, that it was used to fill empty space at the foot of stained-glass windows in medieval churches.
- sun wheel, a name also used as a synonym for the sun cross.
- tetraskelion, Greek "four legged", especially when composed of four conjoined legs (compare triskelion).
- Thor's hammer, from its association with the Norse god of thunder.
It might also be called a hooked cross, as it is in Dutch (hakenkruis), German (Hakenkreuz), Finnish (hakaristi) and Italian (croce uncinata).
- See also the non-English-language Wikipedia entries in the left margin of this page.
In art and architecture
The swastika is common as a design motif in current Hindu architecture and Indian artwork, as well as in ancient architecture, frequently appearing in mosaics, friezes, and other works across the ancient world. 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.
In Chinese, Korean, 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 [1] (http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sayagata.htm). As the negative space between the lines has a distinctive shape, the sayagata pattern is sometimes called the "key fret" motif in English.
The swastika symbol was found extensively in the ruins of the ancient city of Troy.
In Roman art, 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 tesselation. A design of interlocking swastikas is one of several tesselations on the floor of the cathedral of Amiens, France [2] (http://www.labyrinth-enterprises.com/amiens.html). A border of linked swastikas was a common Roman architectural motif [3] (http://romanbristol.tripod.com/avon/tockington.html), and can be seen in more recent buildings as a neoclassical element. A swastika border is one form of meander, and in this context the swastika is sometimes called the Greek key motif.
In religion and mythology
Hinduism
The swastika is found all over Hindu temples, signs, altars, pictures and iconography in India and Nepal, both from the past and today.
In Hinduism, the two symbols represent the two forms of Brahma; clockwise it represents the evolution of the universe (Pravritti), anti-clockwise it represents the involution of the universe (Nivritti). It is also seen as pointing in all four direction (North, East, South and West) and thus signifies stability and groundedness. Its use as a sun symbol can first be seen in its representation of Surya, the Hindu lord of the Sun. It is used as a good-luck symbol. However, it is also seen as a power symbol, and alternate forms that reflect the shape of a man are popular. It is used in all Hindu yantras and religious designs till today. All over the subcontinent of India it can be seen on the sides of temples and on religious scripture to gift items and letterhead. The swastika is considered extremely holy and auspicious by all Hindus, and is regularly used to decorate all sorts of items to do with Hindu culture. The Hindu God Ganesh is closely associated with the symbol of the swastika. Its use is widespread in India and Nepal.
Buddhism
In Buddhism, the swastika is oriented horizontally. These two symbols are included, at least since the Liao dynasty, as part of the Chinese language, the symbolic sign for the character 萬 (wàn) meaning "all", and "eternality" and as 卐 which is seldom used. The swastikas (in either direction) appear on the chest of some statues of Gautama Buddha. Because of the association with the right facing swastika with Nazism, Buddhist swastikas after the mid 20th century are almost universially left facing. This form of the swastika is often found on Chinese food packaging to signify that the product is vegetarian and can be consumed by strict Buddhists. Also this type of swastika is often sewn into the collars of Chinese children's clothing to protect them from evil spirits.
Jainism
In Jainism, the swastika symbol is combined with that of a hand. It is considered to be one of the 24 auspicious marks and the emblem of the seventh arhat of the present age.
Christianity
Although some Christian churches built in the Romanesque and Gothic eras are decorated with swastikas, carrying over earlier Roman designs, the swastika does not appear to have been given any special symbolism or significance. The floor of the synagogue at Ein Gedi, built during the Roman occupation of Judea, was decorated with a swastika mosaic [4] (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/eingedi.html).
Other Asian traditions
In Japan, the swastika, called manji, is an ancient religious symbol. A manji appeared on a certain Pokémon playing card sold in Japan. Because of its resemblance to the Nazi swastika (see below), the card was altered for Western translations. On Japanese town plans, a swastika (left-facing and horizontal) is commonly used to mark the location of a Buddhist temple.
The ancient Chinese character 卐 has developed into the modern one 方, pronounced fāng in Standard Mandarin, and has the main meaning of "square". As part of the Chinese script, the swastika has Unicode encodings 534D 卍 (left bent) and 5350 卐 (right bent).
Native American traditions
The swastika was a widely used Native American symbol. It has been found in excavations of Mississippian-era sites in the Ohio valley. It was widely used by many southwestern tribes, most notably the Navajo. Among different tribes the swastika carried various meanings. To the Hopi it represented the wandering Hopi clans; to the Navajo it represented a whirling log, a sacred image representing a legend that was used in healing rituals [5] (http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa086.shtml).
Swastikas in early 20th century Europe
It was also used as a symbol by the Boy Scouts in Britain, and worldwide. According to "Johnny" Walker [6] (http://www.scouting.milestones.btinternet.co.uk/badges.htm), the earliest Scouting use was on the first Thanks Badge introduced in 1911. Robert Baden-Powell's 1922 Medal of Merit design adds a swastika to the Scout fleur-de-lis as good luck to the person receiving the medal. Like Kipling, he would have come across this symbol in India. During 1934 many Scouters requested a change of design because of the use of the swastika by the Nazi Party. A new British Medal of Merit was issued in 1935.
In Finland the swastika was used as the official national marking of the Finnish Air Force and Army between 1918 and 1944. The swastika was also used by the Lotta Svärd organisation. The blue swastika was the good luck symbol used by the Swedish Count Erich von Rosen, who donated the first plane to the Finnish White Army during the Civil War in Finland. It has no connection to the Nazi use of the swastika. It also still appears in many Finnish medals and decorations, in a visually understated manner.
The Swedish company ASEA, now a part of Asea Brown Boveri, used the swastika in its logo from the 1800s to 1933, when it was removed from the logo.
In Latvia too, the swastika (known as Thunder Cross and Fire Cross) was used as the marking of the Latvian Air Force between 1918 and 1934, as well as in ensignias of some military units. It was also used by the Latvian fascist movement Perkonkrusts (Thunder Cross in Latvian), as well as by other non-political organizations.
Swastikas in North America
The swastika's use by the Navajo and other tribes made it a popular symbol for the American Southwest. Until the 1930s blankets, metalwork, and other Southwestern souveniers were often made with swastikas.
Shortly after the beginning of the second world war, several Native American tribes (the Navajo, Apache, Tohono O'odham, and Hopi) published a decree stating that they would no longer use the swastika in their artwork. This was because to them the swastika had come to symbolize evil. This decree was signed by representatives of these tribes. Here is the text of the decree,
- Because the above ornament which has been a symbol of friendship among our forefathers for many centuries has been desecrated recently by another nation of peoples.
- Therefore it is resolved that henceforth from this date on and forever more our tribes renounce the use of the emblem commonly known today as the swastika or fylfot on our blankets, baskets, art objects, sandpainting, and clothing.
Swastika is the name of a small community in northern Ontario, Canada, approximately 580 kilometres north of Toronto, and 5 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake. The town was founded in 1906. Gold was discovered nearby and the Swastika Mining Company was formed in 1908. The government of Ontario attempted to change the town's name during World War II, but the town resisted.
In Windsor, Nova Scotia, there was an ice hockey team from 1905-1916 named the Swastikas, and their uniforms featured swastika symbols. There were also hockey teams named the Swastikas in Edmonton, Alberta (circa 1916), and Fernie, British Columbia (circa 1922).
The 45th Infantry Division of the United States Army used a yellow swastika on a red background as a unit symbol until the 1930s, when it was switched to a thunderbird. [7] (http://www.45thdivisionmuseum.com/History/SwastikaToThunderbird.html), [8] (http://www.m38a1.com/Misc-MV/thunderbirds.htm)
In Nazi Germany
For many people in the West, the swastika is associated primarily with the Nazis in particular and fascism and evil in general.
The Nazis adopted the swastika in 1920, but it was already in use as a symbol of German volkisch nationalist movements.
The use of the swastika was associated by Nazi theorists with their conjecture of Aryan cultural descent of the German people. Allegedly, the Nazis believed that the early Aryans of India, from whose Vedic tradition the swastika sprang, were the prototypical white invaders. Thus, they saw fit to co-opt the sign as a symbol of white supremacy.
The Nazis used the black swastika or Hakenkreuz in a white circle on a red background, black, white, and red being the colors of the old Imperial flag. The Nazis also used the swastika without the circle and background. Adolf Hitler stated in Mein Kampf that he chose the final design of the Nazi flag based on a large number of submissions from Nazi supporters.
Two versions of the Nazi swastika commonly occur, one with outer bars pointed counter-clockwise, and the mirror image with outer bars pointed clockwise. Although the Nazis do not appear to have made a symbological distinction between the two, the latter is more common in their usage. In both it is usually depicted rotated by 45°.
Worldwide taboo
In modern times, the symbolism of the Nazi swastika has been used by neo-Nazis and other hate groups. Because of this, its use outside historical contexts has become a taboo in much of the world. Nowadays, German law makes the public showing of the Hakenkreuz and other Nazi symbols illegal and punishable, except for scholarly reasons.
For many hundreds of millions of people worldwide, the swastika has associations which have nothing to do with Nazism, and hence it is still in common use in primarily non-Western countries. However in recent years controversies have erupted when consumer goods bearing the symbol have been exported (often unintentionally) to North America. For example, a few years ago a plastic toy showing an animal sporting a swastika was pulled from shelves after complaints from consumers, although the Chinese-based manufacturer claimed the symbol was presented in a traditional sense and not as a reference to the Nazis. Due to its association with Nazi Germany and Hitler, the swastika, whatever its significance may be in non-Western cultures, is now considered a taboo symbol in North America and Europe.
In 1995, the City of Glendale, California scrambled to cover up over 900 cast iron lampposts with swastika-like symbols throughout the downtown portion of the city; the lampposts had been forged by an American company in the early 1920s, and had nothing to do with Nazism.
In 2004, Microsoft released a "critical update" (Knowledge Base Article 833407 (http://support.microsoft.com/?id=833407)) to remove two swastikas from the font Bookshelf Symbol 7. The font had been bundled with Microsoft Office 2003.
Related topics
- The sun cross, a traditional symbol also used by many modern neo-Fascists.
- Brigid's cross
- The arrow cross of the Hungarian fascist party.
- The Celtic cross
- The Odal rune of the neo- nazi African Student Federation.
- The Triskelion (including the three-legged badge of the Isle of Man)
- The Flash and Circle of the British Union of Fascists.
References
- Fun with Chinese Characters — ISBN 981-01-3005-8
- Comet, by Carl Sagan — ISBN 0394549082
External links
- The History of the Swastika (http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/aa120699a.htm)
- Swaztika (Is it really Evil!) (http://www.maitreya.org/swastika/) (sic) (a reproduction of The Swastika by Thomas Wilson (Curator, Department of Prehistoric Anthropology, U.S. National Museum), published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1896)
- The Swastika in Heraldry (http://www.heraldica.org/topics/swastika.htm) (comments from a mailing list)
- Windsor's "Swastikas" Hockey Teams 1905 — 1916 (http://www.birthplaceofhockey.com/hockeyists/swastikas/swastikas-story.html)
- Origins of the Swastika Flag (Third Reich, Germany) (http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de%7Dns_or.html) (collection of links and comments)
- Origins and its first appearance as a Nazi symbol (http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x31/xr3187.html)
- Neonazi flags (http://flagspot.net/flags/naz.html) (a collection of links)
- CITY OF GLENDALE INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATION (http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/lampposts.html) (a letter from the City Attorney to the Mayor discussing swastikas on lampposts in Glendale, California; Attachment E has photographs of the lampposts in question)
- Friends of the Swastika (http://www.manwoman.net/swastika/index.html) (images of swastikas in various contexts)
da:Svastika de:Swastika es:Esvástica eo:Svastiko fr:Svastika it:Svastica he:צלב הקרס nl:Swastika ja:卍 no:Hakekors pt:Suástica sa:स्विस्तक sv:Svastika