Swastika

The swastika (from the Sanskrit, “well-being”) is best known in the West for its 20th-century incarnation as part of Nazi propaganda. However, images of swastikas go back to ancient times. Some scholars trace the swastika as far back as the Neolithic Period in Asia Minor; it was certainly in widespread use in Europe by the Bronze Age. The dominant view is that the swastika originated in Asia Minor, then spread to India and Europe, although there is still considerable, lively debate on the details. Variations on the image can be found in architecture, pottery, decorative and utilitarian artifacts, coins, and clothing, often as a merely decorative ornament and at other times as a religious symbol.

The swastika conveys a wide variety of meanings. In ancient Indian traditions, it was generally associated with the sun. In the Ramayana epic, an image of a swastika appears on a ship, and over time, it became a widely recognized aniconic representation of Vishnu. Artifacts that included the swastika were found in ancient Greece (many images were found at the great excavation of Troy); the symbol seems to have been associated with fertility, although some scholars associate the image with death. In the Far East, the swastika has meant many different things, including representing the seventh Saint in Jainism and eternality in Chinese Buddhism. In the West, the symbol has had less symbolic value, usually conveying nothing more specific than a general wish for good luck. The swastika also appears in several Native American tribes (especially in the Southwest), with varying interpretations.

In the modern period, one commonly finds swastikas throughout India and in other parts of South Asia, with a generally positive association. In Europe, linguists in the 19th century identified connections between Indic and European language families. Certain scholars used this information to argue for a link between the ancient Aryans and certain modern European communities. These scholars, believing that the ancient Aryans invaded northern India and conquered its indigenous peoples, argued that these Aryans were the ancestors of modern Germans. A kind of “folk nationalism” began to develop around the symbol. Eventually, the Nazi party tapped into this association and appropriated the swastika for its own use. Since the mid-20th century, the swastika has been associated with Nazi ideology broadly and anti-Semitism specifically, so much so that its use has been officially banned in certain cultural settings. The negative connotations currently associated with the swastika in the West are unfortunate, because they overshadow centuries of positive meanings.

The term swastika first appears in the Hindu epics and was later appropriated into English in the 18th century. The same image has also been called fylfot, meaning four-footed, as well as gammadion or Croix Gammé. In certain contexts, the direction of the swastika (right or left facing) is insignificant. In other contexts, however, the direction changes the meaning of the symbol. For example, in Buddhism, the right-facing image signifies strength and intelligence, while the left-facing image signifies love and mercy. It is important to note that throughout the world, particularly in the East, the swastika frequently appears in combinations with other images.

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