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The Truth About Swastika
Swastika equals Nazism. No one can escape the association, and with good reason.
But swastika is - was - much more than this, before one of the worst historic nightmares the world has ever seen begun.
We will never get rid of the meaning modern times have impressed on the swastika. But we should also know that its first meaning was Good Luck.
In the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, it meant wellbeing. Even today you can find it painted, embroidered, carved on uncountable objects and monuments. Hindus, Buddhists and Jains have used it to wish well. Even the Boy Scouts adopted it and the Girls' Club of America called their magazine Swastika. It was used by Ancient Greeks, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and is there on ancient artifacts from the Baltic to Balkans.
The symbol was used by the American military units during the first World War. There was even an overlap in use that lasted until 1939, when swasticas could be seen on the RAF planes and on Nazi flags alike.
The disaster came with the similarity German scholars detected between their language and Sanskrit. This observation led to the building of a myth abouth a race of white god-like warriors, called the Aryans. The rest, as they say, is history.
Unfortunately swastika-like symbols won't recover easily from what happened later. But we should remember that the first object we know to carry it engraved is a figurine carved on a mammoth tusk, dating 15,000 years ago.
But swastika is - was - much more than this, before one of the worst historic nightmares the world has ever seen begun.
We will never get rid of the meaning modern times have impressed on the swastika. But we should also know that its first meaning was Good Luck.
In the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, it meant wellbeing. Even today you can find it painted, embroidered, carved on uncountable objects and monuments. Hindus, Buddhists and Jains have used it to wish well. Even the Boy Scouts adopted it and the Girls' Club of America called their magazine Swastika. It was used by Ancient Greeks, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and is there on ancient artifacts from the Baltic to Balkans.
The symbol was used by the American military units during the first World War. There was even an overlap in use that lasted until 1939, when swasticas could be seen on the RAF planes and on Nazi flags alike.
The disaster came with the similarity German scholars detected between their language and Sanskrit. This observation led to the building of a myth abouth a race of white god-like warriors, called the Aryans. The rest, as they say, is history.
Unfortunately swastika-like symbols won't recover easily from what happened later. But we should remember that the first object we know to carry it engraved is a figurine carved on a mammoth tusk, dating 15,000 years ago.