why did Adolf Hitler use the Hindu religious symbol Swastika? what made him take from India?

Answer 1

Well...Swastika was a symbol of goodness and unity...and was used by many countries including india.

China - wan
England - fylfot
Germany - Hakenkreuz
Greece - tetraskelion and gammadion
India - swastika


In the 1800s, countries around Germany were growing much larger, forming empires; yet Germany was not a unified country until 1871. To counter the feeling of vulnerability and the stigma of youth, German nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century began to use the swastika, because it had ancient Aryan/Indian origins, to represent a long Germanic/Aryan history.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the swastika could be found on nationalist German volkisch periodicals and was the official emblem of the German Gymnasts' League.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, the swastika was a common symbol of German nationalism and could be found in a multitude of places such as the emblem for the Wandervogel, a German youth movement; on Joerg Lanz von Liebenfels' antisemitic periodical Ostara; on various Freikorps units; and as an emblem of the Thule Society.



In 1920, Adolf Hitler decided that the Nazi Party needed its own insignia and flag. For Hitler, the new flag had to be "a symbol of our own struggle" as well as "highly effective as a poster." (Mein Kampf, pg. 495)

On August 7, 1920, at the Salzburg Congress, this flag became the official emblem of the Nazi Party.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler described the Nazis' new flag: "In red we see the social idea of the movement, in white the nationalistic idea, in the swastika the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man, and, by the same token, the victory of the idea of creative work, which as such always has been and always will be anti-Semitic."

Answer 2

FCabanski has the right answer on this. I can only add a little to it.

The post Renaissance era in Europe had posed profound questions about the Western religions (Christianity, Judiasm and Islam) and many other ethnologists of the 18th and 19th century from France, Germany and England were finding clout in their writings. Even Darwin's theory had some influence in these ideas.

As Europe's new "scientists" were traveling eastward, excavating the abandoned lands, they discovered that the ancient Vedic peoples had come up with pre-algebra, pre-calculus and math that was even a little too advanced for themselves at the time. The relative philosophies translated from ancient texts, the advancement of the ancient architecture, and the overall fair-skinned "look" of northern Hindi people made these academics hypothesize the "Aryan Invasion Theory", which has now been discredited, but in the Prussian states this pseodo-science became pop culture science, was taught in the schools attended by all Deutsch children of the latter 19th century, and lead to theories later promulgated by Goebbels and Hitler.

The Aryan Invasion Theory was devised on the notion that no "brown skins" could have ever been this advanced, so they must have had been once ruled by the pre-european "Whites" (or ethnic Iranians "aryans", who were, and still are primarily fair skinned, often blue/green eyed, often red haired and ocassionally blonde, just like Europeans). Essentially, the 19th century ethnology emphasized the idea that Anglo and Aryan were interchangable.

It's beleived that Hitler was a strident secularist, but wanted to establish a national identity, because he was aware of the power of nationalism, especially after the disillusionment of the Weimar Republic. He not only borrowed from Hindi cultures, but from Norse mythology as well (interestingly, the Nordics are strongly beleived to be a cross-breed of ancient Jews - the tribe of DAN "Danish" , "Jutes" and Gentiles, and archeology has been confirming this with hebrew graves in the caucasus mountains)
There are even some conspicuous marks in the architecture of Nazi Germany bearing Egyptian and Zoroastrian symbology.

Philosophically, it seems that Hitler's reasoning was a matter of "purging" the influence of Jewish Iconography in the culture with what he considered to be the insignias and symbologies of the "Heathen" races. Therefore, he was establishing a self-identified "Gentile" theocracy.


It should be noted that the swastika is also part of the eight-fold path of Buddhism, and that the ancient wisdom was a great influence to Gautama. This is why you see the swastika all over Asia, and the meaning of Arya retains it's ancient hindo-perian form, meaning "Noble", having little,if anything, to do with race, bloodline, or complexion.

Answer 3

Correction - - - the Swastika was a modification of 'the crooked cross' an ancient medieval symbol that MIGHT be related to the Hindu symbol - - - HITLER took his symbolism from a device common in Germany - - - you will find examples throughout the various kingdoms & principalities comprising the nation and from all eras of history. When someone pointed out the similarities between the Swatiska and the Indian symbol, Hitler merely said that was proof of the historical purity of Aryans since the symbol originated in the region. Peace,

Answer 4

The swastika is more of an Aryan Symbol and Hitler was a staunch believer in Aryan Supremacy.
BTW hinduism was originally practiced by Aryan people.

And i think the hindu swastika also has 4 dots

Answer 5

You can find this info with a google search:

In the Western world, the symbol experienced a resurgence following the archaeological work in the late nineteenth century of Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the symbol in the site of ancient Troy and associated it with the ancient migrations of Proto-Indo-Europeans ("Aryan" people). He connected it with similar shapes found on ancient pots in Germany, and theorised that the swastika was a "significant religious symbol of our remote ancestors," linking ancient German, Greek and Vedic culture.[1] [2] By the early 20th century it was widely used worldwide and was regarded as a symbol of good luck and auspiciousness.

The work of Schliemann soon became intertwined with the völkisch movements, for which the swastika was a symbol of "Aryan" identity, a concept that came to be equated by theorists like Alfred Rosenberg with a Nordic master race originating in northern Europe. Since its adoption by the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler, the swastika has been associated with fascism, racism (white supremacy), World War II, and the Holocaust in much of the West. The swastika remains a core symbol of Neo-Nazi groups, and is also regularly used by activist groups to signify the supposed Nazi-like behaviour of organizations and individuals they oppose.

Answer 6

I dont know if he "borrowed" it from Hindu culture.Since the swastika can be found all over the world.
Its a fact that the Aryans(who really existed)came down and conquered Northern India.The Aryans considered to be a Indo-European race.

Answer 7

The swastika has been around for 3000 years. Hitlers is counter clockwise which is less common. Just where he got the idea other than the Aryan Nations is unknown. I doubt India has anything to do with it.

Answer 8

Actually, it is a Navajo Indian symbol. Also, Roman. There was a bit of an uproar when a woman brought a Indian blanket to the Antiques Roadshow that had the symbol on it. It was 300 years old.

Answer 9

Hitler understood the importance of symbology. He also stole symbols from ancient Rome and the legend of Aurthur.

Answer 10

if you go through the history books it states that he went through all the religious books, when he came across the symbol he found it to be like a wheel constantly moving farward, and it also represent immence wealth and it is the symbol of the sun, there is nothing more powerful than the sun in this solar system, may be all this made him to choose that symbol