where does the swastika come from? what does the swastika mean and why did the nazis use it.?

Answer 1

In antiquity, the swastika was used extensively by the Indo-Aryans, Hittites, Celts and Greeks, among others. In particular, the swastika is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It occurs in other Asian, European, African and Native American cultures – sometimes as a geometrical motif, sometimes as a religious symbol.

The earliest swastika symbols of the archaeological record date to the Neolithic. The symbol was found on a number of shards in the Khuzestan province of Iran and as part of the "Vinca script" of Neolithic Europe of the 5th millennium BC. In the Early Bronze Age, it appears as part of the Indus script used by the Indus Valley Civilization of South Asia and on pottery found in Sintashta, Russia.

In Zoroastrian Persia, the swastika symbolized the revolving sun (Garduneh-e Khorshid), Mithra's Wheel (Garduneh-e Mehr), fire, infinity, or continuing recreation. There is no reference to the swastika in the Vedas, the term svastika first appearing in Epic Sanskrit, but the symbol rose to importance in Hinduism and Buddhism in Maurya and Gupta India.

The use of the swastika by the indigenous Bön faith of Tibet, as well as syncretic religions, such as Cao Dai of Vietnam and Falun Gong of China, is thought to be borrowed from Buddhism as well. Similarly, the existence of the swastika as a solar symbol among the Akan civilization of southwest Africa may have been the result of cultural transfer along the African slave routes around AD 1500.

"Left-facing" and "right-facing" are used mostly consistently. Looking at an upright swastika, the upper arm clearly faces towards the viewer's left (卍) or right (卐). The other two descriptions are ambiguous as it is unclear if they refer to the direction of the bend in each arm or to the implied rotation of the symbol. If the latter, whether the arms lead or trail remains unclear. The terms are used inconsistently (sometimes even by the same writer) which is confusing and may obfuscate an important point, that the rotation of the swastika may have symbolic relevance.

The interpretation of rotational direction may be influenced by the viewer's own bias. Critics of the swastika may see a right-facing design as an active, even aggressive symbol, slicing like a circular saw in a clockwise manner. A viewer with a more positive bias may consider the right-facing arms to be a passive design, rotating like a waterwheel in the opposite direction.

The nature of German fascism, as encapsulated in Nazism, was Roman influenced but more racist in nature. Its symbol was the swastika, a then-popular and commonly seen symbol used since ancient times by many cultures, including Germany, the UK and Scandinavia. A symmetrically eye-catching symbol streamlined for stamp and military use, it was seen as the purported symbol of the Aryan civilization of which Germany was to be the highest incarnation.

Answer 2

The swastika has been used all through history for this and that.
I think the Egyptions used it for a sign of life. But Hitler "Evilized" it. I saw in a documentary that when Hitler was not as popular he thought himself as somewhat of an artist. And when deciding on a symbol for the Nazi flag, he thought the swastika was 'kinda neet'. I guess he could have picked anything.

Answer 3

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RE:
where does the swastika come from? what does the swastika mean and why did the nazis use it.?

Answer 4

Actually.... There is a lot of history with the symbol. When looking back in Hitlers childhood, he was an austrian boy, who was apart of a VERY christain family. I believe they found in his old home (or in his grandma's old home) the symbol put up in the house as a religious item. It looks like a cross, and I believe at the time, that's what it was supposed to represent. I saw this in a movie in highschool about Hitler, and it explained the Swastika's history, and how it's changed over the centuries. It was in no way an evil symbol... it's more of a peaceful symbol, Hitler just criminalized it kind of. The origins of the Nazi's using it, was obviously because they were conservative, and allied heavily with the Church (who were strongly against communism at the time because it was against religion, which was a threat to Christianity).

Answer 5

The swastika is an ancient symbol for peace in Tibetan religions. THe Nazis were looking for a symbol, simple and effective, to represent the party. They chose the symbol because of it's simplicity. They then began a twisted campaign to rewrite history in order to validate it's use. They created archeological digs in Tibet and other small Asian nations to "find" artifacts from ancient Aryan tribes. THese artifacts were used to validate their claim to the ancient roots of Germany.

Answer 6

Wikipedia to the rescue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

Answer 7

swastika comes from germany, it was the nazi symbol, but for the Jews it meant hate and death. but know the swastika is band from germany since everything happened there with hitler and the nazi. that all i now..

Answer 8

The Chinese used the symbol to decorate their porceline (?)hundreds of years ago. The Germans adopted it as a symbol in the 1930s.

Answer 9

the swastika comes from hinduism
it stands for peace and basically good stuff
none of teh crap that its associated with now (thanks to the nazis..)

Answer 10

It's also a pagan symbol. They way the Nazis used it (in reverse) means death. The correct way means life.....If i remember correctly.