The swastika is the oldest and most widespread graphic sign in the world. The cross with the ends facing down was used to decorate the facades of houses, coats of arms, weapons, jewelry, money and household items. The first mention of the swastika dates back to the eighth millennium BC.
Ancient swastika. Tibet
This sign has a lot of meanings. Ancient peoples considered it a symbol of happiness, love, sun and life. Everything changed in the 20th century when the swastika became a symbol of Hitler's rule and Nazism. Since then, people have forgotten about the primitive meaning, and they only know what Hitler's swastika means.
Swastika as an emblem of the fascist and Nazi movement
Even before the Nazis entered the German political arena, paramilitary organizations used the swastika as a symbol of nationalism. This badge was mainly worn by the soldiers of G. Erhardt's detachment.
Hitler, as he himself wrote in a book called My Struggle, claimed to have laid in the swastika a symbol of the superiority of the Aryan race. Already in 1923, at the Nazi congress, Hitler convinced his fellows that the black swastika on a white and red background symbolizes the struggle against Jews and communists. Everyone began to gradually forget its true meaning, and since 1933, people associated the swastika exclusively with Nazism.
Hitler's swastika
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It should be borne in mind that not every swastika is the embodiment of Nazism. The lines should intersect at a 90 degree angle and the edges should be folded to the right. The cross must be placed against the background of a white circle surrounded by a red background.
After the end of World War II, in 1946, the Nuremberg Tribunal made spreading the swastika a criminal offense. The swastika has become banned, this is indicated in paragraph 86a of the German criminal code.
As for the attitude of Russians to the swastika, Roskomnadzor canceled the punishment for its distribution without propaganda purposes only on April 15, 2015. Now you know what Hitler's swastika 4 BC means.
A variety of scholars have hypothesized that the swastika stands for flowing water, female sex, fire, air, moon, and god worship. Also, this sign acted as a symbol of fertile land.
Left-handed or right-handed swastika?
Some scientists believe that there is no difference in which direction the bends of the cross are directed, but there are also specialists who have a different point of view. You can determine the direction of the swastika both at the edges and at the corners. And if two crosses are drawn side by side, the ends of which are directed in different directions, it can be argued that this "set" personifies a man and a woman.
If we talk about Slavic culture, then one swastika denotes movement in the sun, and the other against it. In the first case, happiness is meant, in the other, unhappiness.
Left-hand and right-hand swastika
On the territory of Russia, the swastika has been repeatedly found in various designs (three, four and eight beams). It is assumed that this symbolism belongs to the Indo-Iranian tribes. A similar swastika was also found on the territory of such modern countries as Dagestan, Georgia, Chechnya … In Chechnya, the swastika flaunts on many historical monuments, at the entrance to the crypts. There she was considered a symbol of the Sun.
It is also interesting that the swastika that we are used to seeing was a favorite symbol of Empress Catherine. She painted him wherever she lived.
When the revolution began, the swastika became popular among artists, but the People's Commissar quickly expelled it, since this symbolism had already become a symbol of the fascist movement, which had just begun to exist.
The difference between fascist and Slavic swastika
The most significant difference between the Slavic swastika and the German one is the direction of its rotation. For the Nazis, it goes clockwise, and for the Slavs, it goes against it. In fact, these are not all the differences.
The Aryan swastika differs from the Slavic one in the thickness of the lines and the background. The number of ends of a Slavic cross can be four or eight.
The exact time of the appearance of the Slavic swastika is very difficult to name, but for the first time it was discovered at the sites of the settlement of the ancient Scythians. The markings on the walls date back to the fourth millennium BC. The swastika had a different design, but similar outlines. In most cases, it meant the following:
- Worship of the gods.
- Self-development.
- Unity.
- Home comfort.
- Wisdom.
- Fire.
From this we can conclude that the Slavic swastika signified highly spiritual, noble and positive things.
Slavic swastika on clothes
The German swastika appeared in the early 20s of the last century. It means completely opposite things in comparison with the Slavic. The German swastika, according to one theory, marks the purity of Aryan blood, because Hitler himself said that this symbolism is dedicated to the victory of the Aryans over all other races.
The fascist swastika adorned the captured buildings, uniforms and belt buckles, the flag of the Third Reich.
Summing up, we can conclude that the fascist swastika made people forget that it also has a positive interpretation. All over the world it is associated precisely with the Nazis, but not with the sun, ancient gods and wisdom … Museums that have ancient tools, vases and other antiquities decorated with a swastika in their collections are forced to remove them from exhibitions, because people do not understand that the meaning of this symbol. And this, in fact, is very sad … No one even remembers that once the swastika was a symbol of humane, light and beautiful. Unknowing people who hear the word "swastika" immediately pop up the image of Hitler, pictures of war and terrible concentration camps. Now you know what the sign of Hitler means in ancient symbolism.