The swastika is a symbol with ancient roots in Sanskrit, meaning “something that brings good luck”. However, it became associated with the Nazi party and is now a hated symbol in the West. Modern hate groups still use it as a symbol, but in India and other nations, it remains a positive religious symbol.
A swastika is a geometric symbol composed of two crossed Z’s with straight backs at 45° angles to each other. It is sometimes referred to as a cross with broken arms. Although it has been recorded throughout history as a spiritual good omen, it is mostly known in the West as the symbol of the Nazi party.
Some people might be surprised to learn that the swastika is not a German word, but a Sanskrit one. Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language and the word translates to “something that brings good luck” or “well-being”. It is considered to be an auspicious symbol that could be worn on clothing or the body, similar to the Irish four-leaf clover. Co-opted by the WWII German Nazi Party as a national emblem of Aryan pride, it has become a hated symbol in the West, where its ancient benign roots remain in shadow.
Adolf Hitler’s adoption of the symbol was not entirely without reason. The Nazi Party subscribed to the then-popular Aryan Invasion Theory, which held that Nordic peoples from Europe or Central Asia invaded and conquered India between one and three millennia before the birth of Christ. The Nazis believed that these Indo-Germanic peoples were the original “pure white race” or “Aryan master” and India was the birthplace of civilization. The late 18th-century philologist William Jones even suggested that Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin may have come from an original Indo-Germanic language, now lost to the world. These Aryan associations appealed to Adolph Hitler and the swastika unfortunately became irrevocably intertwined with genocide and racial hatred.
Modern hate groups in the West continue to use him as a symbol for neo-Nazism, racial purity, gender purity and proactive hatred. Some of these hate groups are closely associated with fringe militia groups, loosely organized civilian armies that hate the government, which they see as the destruction of the white race through support for racial equality.
In India and other nations, the swastika remains a positive religious symbol, true to its roots. It is often depicted on celebration cakes, in tile patterns and designs, and in basket weaving, paintings and jewellery.
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