When you see the drawing of a swastika, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Most people would most likely answer this question with something that could be related to Adolf Hitler and Nazism. Now, what few of us know is that this symbol can represent very different values ​​in other cultures.

According to the Today I Found Out website, in Buddhism, the swastika is directly associated with universal harmony, dharma, the balance of opposites, and in its origin meant eternity and good luck. But over time, the symbol came to have a bad reputation thanks to the Führer and his political party.

Although the German dictator greatly contributed to the popularization of the symbol in the West, it must be remembered that the swastika was often used long before the rise of Nazism. In fact, the records report that the first emblems appeared about five thousand years ago.

Traditional tapestry of Navajo Indians. Image source: Reproduction / Wikimedia Commons

The origins of swastika

Interestingly, although the earliest artifacts decorated with the symbol were found in India, it is not possible to associate the emergence of the swastika with a single part of the world. Somehow, it was noted that the design appeared around the planet in almost every culture, regardless of its relationship to Buddhism or Hinduism.

Navajo Indians, Celts, Jews, Christians and even the ancient Greeks and Romans were some of the peoples who have used the symbol throughout history for some reason. The explanation for the swastika appearing in so many parts of the world may lie in the diffusion between cultures that happened at certain times, but this justification does not fit all cases.

Some theorists believe that the shape of the swastika would necessarily be something any basket-making society would be familiar with, since the symbol often appears in the fabric of artifacts. This explanation seems plausible to justify the origin of the symbol, but it fails to show how the swastika has gained such an important meaning in most cultures.

Representations of comets in ancient chinese writings. Image source: Reproduction / Wikimedia Commons

American scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan presented his theory about the importance of the emblem. According to him, some ancient Chinese writings on comets had representations in the format of the swastika. Sagan's theory about the appearance of this symbol and its importance to the world is that a comet could have come so close to Earth that the gas jets that came out of it altered its rotation, which became visible and formed the design in the sky. of the swastika - that would have been the event responsible for making the symbol gain importance around the world.

The swastika and Nazism

But then how did the swastika go to the Nazi flag? German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found the design at an ancient site in the city of Troia and believed that there was an important religious connection between the symbol and its German ancestors. For this statement, he relied on the fact that the swastika was commonly found in ancient Germanic potteries and somehow ended up at the archaeological site he studied.

Of course, if we remember that the swastika is a drawing that has emerged in many cultures throughout history, his theory that the symbol originated in Germany does not hold. In any case, Schliemann's work eventually collaborated with the Völkisch Movement and with the fact that the swastika was elected the symbol of the “Aryan race”.

Nazi army helmet on display in Prague, Czech Republic. Image Source: Reproduction / Jan S. - Shutterstock

The site also points out that Hitler was familiar with the symbol and associated it with the Aryan cultural descent of the Germans. It seems that he would also have had contact with the drawing at the school he attended in Austria during his childhood: the institution had a swastika engraved on the portal of the monastery and another at the entrance to the cave in the courtyard.

By creating the Nazi Party flag, the Führer would have sought to incorporate swastika and color in order to regain and honor German descent: “Red expresses the social thinking that is under the movement. White, nationalist thinking. And the swastika means the mission reserved for us: the struggle for the victory of the Aryan human race and, at the same time, the triumph of the ideal of creative work. ”