Swastika as a cultural symbol [614064]

“Swastika” as a cultural symbol

Du ț ă Andreea-Alexandra
CSCI, Grupa 41205

“Swastika” as a cultural symbol

In this project, we will analyze the symbol of "Swastika" in the context of German
culture, as well as regarding the impact that this element had in world culture.
In contemporary society, where information travels more freely than ever, the cultural
loan represents an extremely current practice. No culture, no symbol is too insignificant to be
emptied of content and used in a foreign context ​ . ​ But there are historical situations where a
symbol is emptied of content and modified so much to its original meanings that in the collective
mentality it completely loses its true value. Swastika is a symbol, an image that is irrevocably
associated with the atrocities of the Holocaust. However, its origins demonstrate that its meanings
are much richer, it becomes virtually an essential element of humanity.
After seventy years after its fall, the Nazi regime continues to exercise a particular
fascination to me and also to a generation that has known the disasters of that period only from
films, articles or books. ​ The reason I approached this topic came from the desire for information
on this subject, and also to show the importance that the Nazy symbol has in global culture.
Today we react quite harshly to the sight of this symbol, but we should ask ourselves why
it has come to associate with Nazism and intolerance, and especially what it signifies before the
adoption by the German Fascism.
The presence of the crucial form extends over thousands or even millions of years. From
the origin of the human adventure, especially during prehistory, the Cross, mainly that consisting
of four equal branches, later named Greek Cross, right cross or single cross, is one of the
fundamental symbols. From the historical period, all cultures and civilizations from the ​ Eastern
and Western world ​ , not forgetting the American culture, know and use the cross, integrating it
into their culture.

Significance
Before clarifying the symbolism of swastics so widespread in ancient traditions we will
say that swastika is not a sign or a political symbol but is a sacral symbol from origin to the
present. A symbol (Latin, Symbolum, Greek, σύμβολον – simbolon) is a representation of a thing
or a concept. The conventional sign or group of conventional signs used in science and
technology represents amounts, quantities, operations, phenomena, formulas. The use and
manipulation of symbols allows the communication and exploration of existing relationships
between things, concepts and qualities.
The meaning and importance of the swastika vary according to the cultures and eras. It
may be a preeminent religious symbol or sign as in Hinduism and Buddhism. Different
assumptions have been made to explain the universality of the swastika.
According to Merriam-Webster Dicionary, swastika is defined as “a symbol or ornament
in the form of a Greek cross with the ends of the arms extended at right angles all in the same
rotary direction.” 1
The word swastika originated in Sanskrit, “Suastika”, meaning any beneficial or lucky
object, and in particular a sign made on objects and people to indicate luck. It consists of
Su-(related to ευ-from Greek), which means "good". The suffix-ka forms a diminutive, and the
swastika may be translated effectively by "small object associated with being well or bringer of
luck" . 2
His significance today in the Western sphere is strictly related to his meaning in history.
Svastica became the typical image of racial hatred and intolerance due to its adoption by the Nazi
in 1920.

1 ​ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swastika ​ (accessed December 21, 2017).
2 ​ https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-the-swastika-1778288 ​ (accessed December 21, 2017).

Origin of Swastika
The Swastika was a symbol used by one of Earth's most hated men, a symbol of the
slaughter of millions of people and one of the most destructive wars on Earth. But Adolf Hitler
was not the first to use this symbol. In fact, it has been used as a powerful symbol many years
before it, in many cultures ​ .
Malcolm Quinn investigates in his book ​ The Swastika: Constructing the Symbol ​ , the
history of this symbol and demonstrates that it has a positive conotation for many years. It seems
to have been used for the first time by the inhabitants of the regions between Europe and Asia.
However, it was adopted in ancient American cultures, seemingly independent. Today, swastika
is widely used in religious and civil ceremonies in India. Most Indian temples, marriages,
festivals and celebrations have a swastika decoration. At the beginning of the twentieth century it
was widely used throughout the world, being regarded as a symbol of good fortune. 3
Thomas Wilson analyzes in his book ​ The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its
Migrations ​ this symbol of swastika and makes a detailed chart of this symbol and his meaning
around the world. ​ Wilson specifies the presence of swastics as a symbol of the Aryan race and
which dates to the years 600 B.C. He also considers that is very hard to say in what country was
present the symbol of swastika but we can say that the first appearance was in the Orient in
central and southeastern Asia among the forerunners or predecessors of the Bramius and
Buddhists. 4
Unfortunately, many of the spiritual knowledge and ancient traditions were lost in Russia
during the revolution and in the following years of the Soviet regime. And to this complete loss
of knowledge and ancient traditions have been added to the tragic events of the Second World
War.

3 ​ Malcolm Quinn ​ , ​ The Swastika: Constructing the Symbol ​ ( ​ London/NY: Routledge, 2005), ​ 56.
4 ​ Thomas Wilson, ​ The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migrations: ​ with observations on the migration
of certain industries in prehistoric times ​ (Washington: US National Museum, 1896), 792.

Symbol of Swastika in the global culture

For Hindus and Buddhists in India and other Asian countries, the swastika was an
important symbol for thousands of years and, to this day, the symbol can still be seen in
abundance – on temples, buzzards, cabs and on the cover of books. It has also been used in
ancient Greece and can be found in the remnants of the ancient city of Troy, which exists 4000
years ago. The ancient Druids and Celts also used the symbol, reflected in many objects that were
discovered. It was used by the northern tribes and even the first Christians used the swastika as
one of their symbols, including the Teutonic Knights, a medieval German Military order, which
became a purely religious Catholic order.
In the Buddhist religion swastika is present on the Buddhist books, on the chest of some
statues of Budha, and sometimes printed even on the legs of the statues.Also, swastika is for
Hindus and Buddhists a symbol of divine blessing. That's why in India we find it on the doors of
houses and painted on cars. In China, swastika is the mark of the number ten thousand, which
represents the totality of beings and manifestations. Swastika also appears on the collars of the
Chinese children's blouses to protect them from evil spirits.
In UK, the writer Rudyard Kipling, was strong influenced by Indian culture, he used a
swastika as his personal emblem on the covers of many editions of his books, along with the
elephant, signifying his affinity towards India. With the rise of Nazism, Kipling ceased to use the
swastika.
In Russian culture, swastika holds a special place. It can be found in almost all categories
of Russian folk art, in embroidery and fabrics, in sculpture and painting on wood, ceramics, in
Orthodox religion, on towels, drapes, aprons, tablecloths, T-shirts, chests, jewellery.
The symbol of swastics is highly contradictory in the United States, although the First
Amendment of the United States Constitution protects most of its uses. Many old buildings, built
before swastiks were associated with Nazism, implemented this symbol in their architectural
decorations. Swastiks and similar symbols appear in decorative elements in several governmental
buildings in the USA. The symbol also made its presence felt on a wider scale, being used by

companies as a logo. Also as an example, the American division wore swastika while fighting
against Germany in the First World War.
In Romania swastica was used as an emblem for the ​ National-Christian League of
Defence ​ , a fascist group in our country, led by Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

Swastika as a Nazy symbol

Anti-Semitic fascists from all countries have adopted the swastika, symbol of their race.
Although the Fascism is energetically nationalistic, it finds in swastika the key to an
internationalism that must respond to Jewish internationalism, since the committed fight cannot
be won otherwise.
The Nazis considered this symbol to be related to the fact that the German people were
the descendant of the Aryan race, a superior race, which is why they adopted swastika as the
emblem of the party and imprinting it on the flag, on bracelets and badges. In ​ Swastika, The Nazi
Terror ​ , Harrison Smith and Robert Haas found that “By decree issued in Berlin, March 12,1933,
the Nazi banner together with that of the Old Empire was proclaimed the flag of Germany. Upon
it was inscribed the Swastika-symbolizing hatred of the Jewand in that sign the new German
Government, with Hitler at its head, declared and is waging official and relentless war upon
600,000 of its own citizens.” 5
The swastika is and will remain the rallying symbol of the white race, in its global effort
to extricate itself of the economic and political domination of the Jews. ​ Modern civilizations have
long watched swastika under the shadow of the millions of victims of Nazi and Communist
camps, victims during Second World War .
In some European countries, such as Lithuania, Poland and Hungary, Svastica still has a
negative conotation. After the end of World War II the use of swastics was discouraged in the
Western world. Various people have had initiatives, yet failed, to teach Westerners to look at the

5 ​ James Waterman ​ , ​ Swastika, The Nazi Terror ​ , (New York: H. Smith and R. Haas ,1933), 9.

prehistoric origins of swastics, disregarding its recent association with Nazism. Nowadays the use
of swastics is forbidden in most states. ​ Wilhelm Reich found that “This effect of the swastika on
unconscious emotional life is, of course, not the reason for the success of fascist mass
propaganda. Random tests with people of either sex and of various ages and social positions
showed that only very few people failed to recognise the meaning of the swastika: most people
recognised it sooner or later.” 6
It is therefore important to know that swastika is one of the oldest symbols, dating from
antiquity, before the first forms of writing, that it has been associated with interpretations and
beneficial roles and if we limit only to what it meant for the Nazi regim would be an incomplete
and inadequate understanding.

6 Wilhelm Reich, ​ The Mass Psychology of Fascism ​ , trans. Theodore P.Woolfe, (New York: Orgone Institute Press,
1946), 87.

Refferences

Primary sources
Quinn, Malcolm, ​ The Swastika: Constructing the Symbol ​ . ​ London/NY: Routledge, 2005.
Reich, Wilhelm. ​ The Mass Psychology of Fascism ​ . New York: Orgone Institute Press, 1946.
Waterman, James. ​ Swastika, The Nazi Terror ​ . New York: H. Smith and R. Haas ,1933.
Wilson, Thomas. ​ The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migrations: with
observations on the migration of certain industries in prehistoric times. ​ Washington: US
National Museum, 1896.

Web Sources

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swastika ​ (accessed December 21, 2017).
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-the-swastika-1778288 ​ (accessed December 21, 2017).