Swastika

:For the town in Ontario, see Swastika, Ontario.

Early 20th century

Europe

The British author Rudyard Kipling, who was strongly influenced by Indian culture, had a swastika on the dust jackets of all his books until the rise of Nazism made this inappropriate. One of Kipling's Just So Stories, "The Crab That Played With The Sea", had an elaborate full-page illustration by Kipling including a stone bearing what was called "a magic mark" (a swastika); some later editions of the stories blotted out the mark, but not its captioned reference, making the readers wonder what the "mark" was.

Related Topics:
British - Rudyard Kipling - India - Just So Stories

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The Russian Provisional Government of 1917 printed a number of new bank notes with right-facing, diagonally rotated swastikas in their centres. Some have suggested that this may have been the inspiration behind the Nazis adoption of this symbol as Alfred Rosenberg was in Russia at this time.

Related Topics:
Russian Provisional Government - 1917 - Alfred Rosenberg

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It was also used as a symbol by the Boy Scouts in Britain, and worldwide. According to "Johnny" Walker,{{ref|scoutingmilestones}} the earliest Scouting use was on the first Thanks Badge introduced in 1911. Robert Baden-Powell's 1922 Medal of Merit design adds a swastika to the Scout fleur-de-lis as good luck to the person receiving the medal. Like Kipling, he would have come across this symbol in India. During 1934 many Scouters requested a change of design because of the use of the swastika by the Nazis. A new British Medal of Merit was issued in 1935.

Related Topics:
Boy Scouts - Robert Baden-Powell - Fleur-de-lis - Nazis

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During World War I, the swastika was used as the emblem of the British National War Savings Committee.{{ref|hansard}}

Related Topics:
World War I - British National War Savings Committee

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In Finland the swastika was used as the official national marking of the Finnish Air Force and Army between 1918 and 1944. The swastika was also used by the Lotta Svärd organisation. The blue swastika was the good luck symbol used by the Swedish Count Eric von Rosen, who donated the first plane to the Finnish White Army during the Finnish Civil War. It has no connection to the Nazi use of the swastika. It also still appears in many Finnish medals and decorations. In the much respected wartime medals of honor it was a visible element, first drafted by Axel Gallen-Kallela 1918–19. Mannerheim cross with a swastika is the Finnish equivalent of Victoria Cross, Croix de guerre and Medal of Honor. Due to Finland's alliance with Nazi Germany in World War II, the symbol was abandoned as a national marking, to be replaced by a roundel.

Related Topics:
Finland - Finnish Air Force - Army - 1918 - 1944 - Lotta Svärd - Swedish - Eric von Rosen - White Army - Finnish Civil War - Mannerheim cross - Victoria Cross - Croix de guerre - Medal of Honor - Roundel

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The Swedish company ASEA, now a part of Asea Brown Boveri, used the swastika in its logo from the 1800s to 1933, when it was removed from the logo.

Related Topics:
Swedish - ASEA - Asea Brown Boveri - 1800s - 1933

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In Latvia, too, the swastika (known as Thunder Cross and Fire Cross) was used as the marking of the Latvian Air Force between 1918 and 1934, as well as in insignias of some military units.{{ref|Latvia}} It was also used by the Latvian fascist movement Perkonkrusts (Thunder Cross in Latvian), as well as by other non-political organizations.

Related Topics:
Latvia - Latvian Air Force - 1918 - 1934 - Fascist - Perkonkrusts

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The Icelandic Steamship Company, Eimskip (founded in 1914), used a swastika in its logo until recently.

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In Dublin, Ireland, a laundry company known as the Swastika Laundry was in existence on the south side of the city. Featuring a black swastika on a white background, the business started up in the early 20th century and continued up until recent times.

Related Topics:
Dublin - Ireland

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North America

The Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875, incorporated the Swastika into its seal because of the Buddhist associations of the symbol.

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The swastika's use by the Navajo and other tribes made it a popular symbol for the Southwestern United States. Until the 1930s blankets, metalwork, and other Southwestern souvenirs were often made with swastikas.

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Arizona state highway markers up until 1940 featured a right-facing swastika superimposed on an arrowhead (Arizona Roads)

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Swastika usage and controversies

• Shortly after the beginning of World War II, several Native American tribes (the Navajo, Apache, Tohono O'odham, and Hopi) published a decree stating that they would no longer use the swastika in their artwork. This was because the swastika had come to symbolize evil to them. This decree was signed by representatives of these tribes. The decree states:

: Because the above ornament which has been a symbol of friendship among our forefathers for many centuries has been desecrated recently by another nation of peoples.

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: Therefore it is resolved that henceforth from this date on and forever more our tribes renounce the use of the emblem commonly known today as the swastika or fylfot on our blankets, baskets, art objects, sandpainting, and clothing.

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• One year in the first part of the 20th century, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, featured a design that had a swastika on one of the towers.
• Swastika is the name of a small community in northern Ontario, Canada, approximately 580 kilometres north of Toronto, and 5 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake, the town of which it is now part. The town of Swastika was founded in 1906. Gold was discovered nearby and the Swastika Mining Company was formed in 1908. The government of Ontario attempted to change the town's name during World War II, but the town resisted.
• In Windsor, Nova Scotia, there was an ice hockey team from 1905 to 1916 named the Swastikas, and their uniforms featured swastika symbols. There were also hockey teams named the Swastikas in Edmonton, Alberta (circa 1916), and Fernie, British Columbia (circa 1922).
• The 45th Infantry Division of the United States Army used a yellow swastika on a red background as a unit symbol until the 1930s, when it was switched to a thunderbird.{{ref|45thdivision}}^~{{ref|thunderbirds}}
• In 1925, Coca-Cola made a lucky watch fob in the shape of a swastika with the slogan, "Drink Coca Cola five cents in bottles".
• The Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building (HPER) at Indiana University contains decorative Native American-inspired reverse swastika tilework on the walls of the foyer and stairwells on the southeast side of the building. HPER was built as the university fieldhouse in the 1920s, before the Nazi party came to power in Germany. In recent years, the HPER swastika motif, along with the Thomas Hart Benton murals in nearby Woodburn Hall have been the cause of much controversy on campus.
• The third dungeon of the classic video game The Legend of Zelda is shaped very similarly to a left-facing swastika, causing some surprise among Western players; see The Legend Of Zelda controversy.
• In the original release of the video game Doom, a floor area in one level took on the shape of a swastika. It was removed in a later version.

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