Before being used by the Nazi regime, the swastika was actually used around the world, including in Indian, Chinese, Japanese and American cultures by followers of different religions. .
Recently, Danish historians announced they have discovered the oldest evidence that humans worshiped the Norse god of war and death, Odin. Next to Odin’s portrait is a small sign resembling the swastika, once considered a symbol of peace, prosperity and good luck.
Different forms of the swastika over time, from left to right: the swastika on a Nazi armband, the swastika next to the Norse god Odin, and the swastika on a Buddha statue. (Image: Getty Images and the National Museum of Denmark).
Today, many see the swastika as a symbol of hatred, extremism and danger, which in fact has a long and varied history that goes far beyond the symbolism that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party destroyed. rings used in the last century.
The word “ten thousand” comes from a Sanskrit word “svastika” which means “luck” or “happiness”. As far as we know, the word appeared as early as on a 15,000-year-old mammoth ivory bird statue found by Ukrainian scientist Federik Volkov.
On the bird’s chest, which is now kept in the National Museum of Ukrainian History, is an engraving of interconnected swastikas. This statue was found along with many phallic objects, suggesting that the swastika was used as a lucky symbol for fertility.
The art of decorating with colors Rangoli during the Diwali festival of lights in India. (Image: Getty Images).
Today, the swastika is still widely used in some religions in India.
In Jainism , the swastika represents the four states of existence: Heaven, Humanity, Hell, and a near-human life. In the Zoroastrian religion , one of the world’s oldest religions, the four prongs of the swastika represent water, fire, air, and earth. In Buddhism , this symbol is used to represent the footsteps of the Buddha. Across India, this symbol is painted on the doors of shops, on vehicles, food packaging and at festivals.
Many other parts of Asia also adopted this notation. In China , this is a symbol meaning “the source of all good luck” first used by Emperor Wu Zetian in 693. According to the Asia-Pacific Museum, when praying, use additional words. Then, that prayer will increase in value 10,000 times.
Norse religious followers have been using the swastika symbol as early as 401, most commonly alongside depictions of Thor, the god of thunder, the sky, and agriculture. This symbol is also drawn next to the image of Thor’s father god, Odin.
It’s not just Nordic people who use the swastika. The Celts, Druids, and Vikings also used this notation.
According to American art expert Steven Heller, the swastika was used in Europe to represent good luck from as far back as the early twentieth century. Europeans used this notation in many ways before Hitler changed it. They consider this a symbol of luck, fertility, happiness, the Sun and it carries spiritual meaning as well as commercial value when printed with trademarks.
Nearly 100 years ago, many companies used this symbol on their trademarks. Carlsberg Brewing Company printed a swastika with the company logo. The Finnish Air Force and even the British Boy Scouts use this symbol.
However, everything changed starting in the 1920s.
A bottle of Carlsberg beer has a label with the swastika. (Image: Getty Images).
Some researchers believe that Aryans use this symbol as a sign of luck and prosperity.
Aryanism is often associated with a belief in racial purity, but according to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in the US, the Aryans were of Indo-European origin and inhabited India and Iran (then Persia). , and Europe.
The taxonomy of ethnocentrism is often used to refer to the common languages spoken in that culture, but it was later used as a racial classification.
The similarity between the Aryan languages and German is said to have influenced Hitler’s beliefs. He suggested that the Aryans, especially those from India and Germany, were of “pure” descent.
After Hitler’s Nazi Party adopted the swastika as its official symbol in 1920, it gradually came to be seen as a symbol of racial purity , extremism, and totalitarian terrorism.
And so, the swastika has come a long way to transform from its original source of luck. When the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, Hitler decreed that the German flag should be flown together with the famous red flag with a very large black swastika.
Today, the swastika with its once noble meaning is considered an embodiment of evil, representing genocide, gas chambers and millions of people killed in the Holocaust.
Some people are trying to change that, though. They didn’t want people to forget the atrocities of Hitler’s Third Reich but still wanted to revive the broad cultural significance of the swastika.
In 2022, Indian actress Sheetal Deo in New York, USA, where 1.6 million Jews live, said she was asked to remove the decoration of Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights. – in her home because of the swastika symbol, but she doesn’t think she should apologize for using that sacred symbol simply because it is often confused with a negative interpretation.
But art expert Steven Heller said: “A rose, whatever its name, is still a rose, just the way that symbol affects your vision and emotions. For many people, it works instinctively, not rationally, and unfortunately that’s the case.”