03-25-2012, 12:17 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika
It actually meant a LOT of other stuff before it was associated with the Third Reich.
It actually meant a LOT of other stuff before it was associated with the Third Reich.
Quote:Swastikas have also been used in other various ancient civilizations around the world. It remains widely used in Indian religions, specifically in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, primarily as a tantric symbol to evoke 'shakti' or the sacred symbol of auspiciousness. The swastika is also a Chinese character used in East Asia representing eternity and Buddhism.
Following a brief surge of popularity in Western culture, the right-facing swastika was adopted as a symbol of the Nazi Party of Germany in 1920. The Nazis used the swastika as a symbol of an alleged Aryan race. After Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, a swastika was incorporated into 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.