To many of people, the swastika represents the Nazis and the many other terrible events which occurred throughout the Hholocaust, but it had been used in other religions, cultures, and had various meanings before Hitler turned it into a symbol of death and sadness. The swastika had originated in religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism in India, though it was only very minimally used in Buddhism. It had been an important symbol in Hinduism, used for various reasons on festivals and religious rites. In Buddhism, the Swastika had represented eternity.
It had also been mostly used in Asia through Jainism. The Swastika was used in Greece through Greek architecture, clothing, and coin design. Greco-Roman art and architecture included many connected Swastika-like images as well. In Russia, the swastika had represented the Christian Slavic faith. Not only had the swastika been used in those religions and countries, but it was used in Modern Europe and North America for various different reasons as well. The swastika was a widely used symbol across the world until Hitler and the Nazi’s had come along to destroy its true meaning.
Though there are many laws and debates regarding whether the swastika should still be used today, all over the world it is still a commonly used symbol. In India, the swastika had been used in many different religions and cultures. Along with that, the swastika had originated in India, specifically in Hinduism and Buddhism. The word “swastika” is derived from the word “svastika” in the Sanskrit language. The swastika was used in India very commonly for festivals and celebrations. It was used for this throughout the Jainism religion. It was also, however, used in Buddhism and Hinduism.
There were many reasons for the Swastika being used in Jainism, along with Hinduism and Buddhism. The main religions of which still use the swastika is still used today includes Hinduism and Jainism. The swastika is an important Hindu symbol. During Hindu religious Rites, the swastika is painted on the head or body. On holidays or festivals, it is painted on doors. Many vehicles such as rickshaws and trucks have the swastika presented on them. All the these uses with the swastika are claimed to prevent evil and attract good. Not only that, but in Hinduism, it represents God and his manifestation along with energy.
It also represents the Purushartha, which includes natural order, wealth, desire, and liberation. Along with the swastika, in Hinduism, there is also another symbol with the name swastika, also with similar meanings. The swastika’s meaning and symbols in the Buddhist religion are very similar to those of the Hindu religion. It represents auspiciousness and well being, very much like the Hindu swastika. Another similarity between the two is that the swastika is often painted onto the body, however in Hinduism it is mostly put on the head, yet in Buddhism it is most commonly placed on the palms and feet.
The last Asian culture or religion to make use of the swastika symbol was Jainism. The swastika, or swastik, has much more prominence in Jainism than in Hinduism or Buddhism. They share the same look of swastika as Hinduism and Buddhism, a swastika with right-facing arms with four dots in between, however the Jains put a completely different meaning to it. For starters, the four arms of the swastika represent heavenly beings, human beings, hellish beings, and subhuman beings. Also, it represents the nature of the universe and where a creature is destined to go based on karma.
Not only that, but it also represents the four characteristics of the soul, which include: infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite happiness and infinite energy. Lastly, on the Jain flag, their swastika is depicted in the center. The swastika was used just as much in Europe as India, regardless of where it originated. This included Greece, Greco-Rome, Russia, and Modern Europe. Obviously, the swastika was used in Germany as well. The European swastika is far different and used in many other ways that how it had been, and still is, used in India and Asia. InN Europe, it had gone by the name of “sun cross”.
The swastika in Europe had less of a symbolic meaning in some countries, and it had been a common art piece. Other than in Germany, the swastika had been used in Europe mostly inthroughout Greece. However, it was used a lot differently way different in Greece than it was anywhere else in India. In Greece, the swastika had mostly been imprinted on coins made of silver and different cheaper metals. The swastika in Greece had gone by the name of gammadion. Priestesses from Ancient Greece had tattooed the gammadion, or swastika, on their bodies, whether it was a single swastika, or multiple linked ones.
Greco-Roman swastikas were found all over art and architecture. In this time, swastika were very rarely found by themselves. There would often be multiple swastikas with various other patterns and lines in between. It could also commonly be found bordering images and other art. To the Greeks and Romans, the swastika had represented perpetual motion, and was frequently rotated to imitate a wind or water mill. Borders and tessellations made of the symbol where found on the floors of cathedrals and could also be found in many more recent buildings as well.
Not only was the swastika symbol used in the Greek and Roman areas, but it was also found in Slavic areas of Russia. The Slavic version of the swastika had been called “little sun” had been the symbol of the Slavic Sun God. It was often carved into wooden statues or monument that were placed near the graves of people who had passed away. It had been first used in the Early Slavic era by a Polish painter. The Slavic swastika was also commonly found on many pieces of art, including mostly pottery. The swastika symbol in Russia went by the name of Kolovrat. The Russians had used the symbol to represent their Christian Slavic religion and faith.
The last major use of the swastika in Europe other than the Germans, were the Finnish. In Finland, the swastika had been used on Finnish art, used as a decoration, or as an important symbol on textiles or wood. Although it had been used for many decorations or art, the Finnish swastika was most commonly used in the Finnish Air Force, and still today, it can be found on the air force flags. Despite the hundreds of historical meanings behind the swastika, ultimately, the swastika still remains as the symbol of the Nazis and the millions of deaths brought upon us by Hitler.
Conclusively, Hitler felt that the Nazis needed a symbol that represented their struggle, yet he also felt that it should be a symbol that could fit well on a poster or a memorable symbol. In Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, he said, “The red expressed the social thought underlying the movement. White, the national thought. And the swastika signified the mission allotted to us, the struggle for the victory of Aryan mankind and at the same time the triumph of the ideal of creative work which is in itself and always will be anti-Semitic. “