Swastika

For other uses, see Swastika (disambiguation).

The swastika is a symbol with many styles and meanings and can be found in many cultures.
The appropriation of the swastika by the Nazi Party is the most recognisable modern use of the symbol in the Western world.

The swastika (卐 or 卍) is a symbol predominantly used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well in some African and American ones. In the Western world, it is more widely recognized as a symbol of the German Nazi Party who appropriated it for their party insignia starting in the early 20th century. The appropriation continues with its use by neo-Nazis around the world.[1][2][3][4] The swastika was and continues to be used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.[1][5][6][7][8] It generally takes the form of a cross,[A] the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle.[10][11]

The word swastika comes from Sanskrit: स्वस्तिक, romanized: svastika, meaning 'conducive to well-being'.[1][12] In Hinduism, the right-facing symbol (clockwise) (卐) is called swastika, symbolizing surya ('sun'), prosperity and good luck, while the left-facing symbol (counter-clockwise) (卍) is called sauvastika, symbolising night or tantric aspects of Kali.[1] In Jain symbolism, it represents Suparshvanatha – the seventh of 24 Tirthankaras (spiritual teachers and saviours), while in Buddhist symbolism it represents the auspicious footprints of the Buddha.[1][13][14] In the different Indo-European traditions, the swastika symbolises fire, lightning bolts, and the sun.[15] The symbol is found in the archaeological remains of the Indus Valley civilisation[16] and Samarra, as well as in early Byzantine and Christian artwork.[17][18]

Although used for the first time as a symbol of international antisemitism by far-right Romanian politician A. C. Cuza prior to World War I,[19][20][21] it was a symbol of auspiciousness and good luck for most of the Western world until the 1930s,[2] when the German Nazi Party adopted the swastika as an emblem of the Aryan race. As a result of World War II and the Holocaust, in the West it continues to be strongly associated with Nazism, antisemitism,[22][23] white supremacism,[24][25] or simply evil.[26][27] As a consequence, its use in some countries, including Germany, is prohibited by law.[B] However, the swastika remains a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain countries such as Nepal, India, Thailand, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, China and Japan, and carries various other meanings for peoples around the world, such as the Akan, Hopi, Navajo, and Tlingit peoples. It is also commonly used in Hindu marriage ceremonies and Dipavali celebrations.

  1. ^ a b c d e "Swastika". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b Campion, Mukti Jain (23 October 2014). "How the world loved the swastika – until Hitler stole it". BBC News Magazine. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Roden was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Olson, Jim (September 2020). "The Swastika Symbol in Native American Art". Whispering Wind. 48 (3): 23–25. ISSN 0300-6565. ProQuest 2453170975 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sullivan2001p216 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference snodgrass82 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cort, John E. (2001). Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India. Oxford University Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0195132342.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference p.97 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference GRE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference MigSym was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference CambDict was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference etymology was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference silverblatt109 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Pant, Mohan; Funo, Shūji (2007). Stupa and Swastika: Historical Urban Planning Principles in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. National University of Singapore Press. p. 231 with note 5. ISBN 978-9971-69-372-5.
  15. ^ Greg, Robert Philips (1884). On the Meaning and Origin of the Fylfot and Swastika. Nichols and Sons. pp. 6, 29.
  16. ^ "Faience button seal". Faience button seal (H99-3814/8756-01) with swastika motif found on the floor of Room 202 (Trench 43).
  17. ^ "Swastika". Britanica. The swastika also appeared in early Christian and Byzantine art (where it became known as the gammadion cross, or crux gammata, because it could be constructed from four Greek gammas [ Γ ] attached to a common base).
  18. ^ "Textile with Interlacing Bands forming Swastika Figures (German, 14th–15th century)". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  19. ^ The National Jewish Monthly. Vol. 55–56. B'nai B'rith. 1940. p. 181. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  20. ^ Nagy-Talavera, Nicholas M. (1998). Nicholas M. Nagy-Talavera, Center for Romanian Studies, 1998, Nicolae Iorga: A Biography, p. 102. Center for Romanian Studies. ISBN 9789739809177. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  21. ^ Butnaru, Ion C.; Spodheim, Renee (1992). Ion C. Butnaru, Renee Spodheim, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1992, The Silent Holocaust: Romania and Its Jews, p. 28. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 9780313279850. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference holocaust2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference wiener463 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Stollznow, Karen (2020). On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present. Cambridge University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-108-49627-8.
  25. ^ Langman, Lauren; Lundskow, George (2016). God, Guns, Gold and Glory: American Character and its Discontents. Brill. p. 89. ISBN 978-90-04-32863-1.
  26. ^ Lander, Janis (2013). Spiritual Art and Art Education. Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-134-66789-5.
  27. ^ Wagoner, Brady (2009). Symbolic Transformation: The Mind in Movement Through Culture and Society. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-135-15090-7.


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