Before it was appropriated by the Nazi regime, the swastika was actually used across the world, including in Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and American cultures by people of various religions.
Recently, Danish historians announced they discovered the oldest evidence of human worship of the Norse god of war and death, Odin. Alongside a depiction of Odin, there is a small symbol resembling the swastika, which has historically been regarded as a symbol of peace, prosperity, and good fortune.
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. (Photo: Getty Images and the National Museum of Denmark).
Today, many view the swastika as a symbol of hatred, extremism, and danger, whereas it has a long and diverse history that predates the brutal use of the symbol by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in the last century.
Origins of the Swastika
The term “swastika” originates from the Sanskrit word “svastika,” meaning “good fortune” or “well-being.” The earliest known appearance of this term is on a 15,000-year-old mammoth ivory bird statue discovered by Ukrainian scientist Federik Volkov.
On the bird’s chest, which is currently held at the National Museum of Ukraine, there is an engraving of interconnected swastikas. This statue was found alongside many phallic objects, indicating that the swastika was used as a symbol of good luck to wish for abundant fertility.
Rangoli decoration art during the Diwali festival in India. (Photo: Getty Images).
The Swastika in Asia
Today, the swastika is still widely used in several religions in India.
In Jainism, the swastika symbolizes the four states of existence: heaven, humanity, hell, and a life similar to that of humans. In Zoroastrianism, one of the world’s oldest religions, the four arms of the swastika represent water, fire, air, and earth. In Buddhism, this symbol is used to represent the footprints of Buddha. Across India, this symbol is drawn on the entrance of shops, on vehicles, food packaging, and during festivals.
Many other regions in Asia have also adopted this symbol. In China, it is a symbol that signifies “the origin of all good fortune,” first used by Empress Wu Zetian in 693. According to the Asia-Pacific Museum, invoking the swastika while making a prayer will increase the prayer’s value by 10,000 times.
The Swastika in Europe
Norse believers have used the swastika since at least 401 AD, most commonly alongside representations of Thor, the god of thunder, sky, and agriculture. This symbol is also depicted alongside images of Thor’s father, Odin.
Not only the Norse used the swastika. The Celts, Druids, and Vikings also employed this symbol.
According to American art expert Steven Heller, the swastika was used in Europe to represent good fortune from ancient times until the early 20th century. Europeans employed this symbol in various ways before Hitler changed its significance. They viewed it as a symbol of luck, fertility, happiness, the Sun, and it carried both spiritual meaning and commercial value when printed alongside product labels.
Nearly 100 years ago, many companies used this symbol on their product labels. Carlsberg beer featured the swastika alongside its company logo. The Finnish Air Force and even the British Scouts also used this symbol.
However, everything changed starting in the 1920s.
A Carlsberg beer bottle with a label featuring the swastika. (Photo: Getty Images).
Chosen by the Nazis
Some researchers believe that the Aryan culture used this symbol as a sign of luck and prosperity.
Aryanism is often associated with beliefs in racial purity, but according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Aryans originated from Indo-European roots and lived throughout India, Iran (then Persia), and Europe.
The classification of Aryanism was often used to refer to the common languages spoken within that culture, but it later became a means of racial classification.
The similarities between Aryan languages and German are believed to have influenced Hitler’s beliefs. He believed that Aryans, particularly those from India and Germans, had a “pure” lineage.
After Hitler’s Nazi Party adopted the swastika as its official symbol in 1920, it gradually came to be viewed as a symbol of racial purity, extremism, and totalitarian terrorism.
<pThus, the swastika has traveled a long path, transforming from its original representation of good fortune. When the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, Hitler decreed that the German flag had to be flown alongside the infamous red flag featuring the large black swastika.
Today, the swastika, once a symbol of noble meaning, is now seen as the embodiment of evil, representing genocide, gas chambers, and the millions who were killed in the Holocaust.
Nevertheless, some people are striving to change this narrative. They do not wish for people to forget the atrocities of Hitler’s Third Reich, but they also want to revive the broader cultural significance of the swastika.
In 2022, Indian actress Sheetal Deo, based in New York, home to 1.6 million Jews, stated that she was asked to remove a Diwali decoration from her home because it bore the swastika symbol, but she did not believe she needed to apologize for using that sacred symbol simply because it is often mistakenly associated with a negative understanding.
However, art expert Steven Heller remarked: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet; it is simply how that symbol affects your perception and emotions. For many, it triggers instinctive responses rather than rational ones, and unfortunately, that is the reality.”
