Swastika

The swastika (卐 or 卍, Sanskrit: [sʋɐst̪ikɐ]) is a symbol used in various <a href="/facts/Eurasia/KlLI9GDM">Eurasian</a> religions and cultures, as well as a few <a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples_of_Africa/nJSwQJBj">African</a> and <a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas/LG2r6wXm">American</a> cultures. In the <a href="/facts/Western_world/UQl4e7du">Western world</a>, it is widely recognized as a symbol of the German <a href="/facts/Nazi_Party/qQCramHd">Nazi Party</a> who <a href="/facts/Cultural_appropriation/flXNW2fo">appropriated</a> it for their party insignia starting in the early 20th century. The appropriation continues with its use by <a href="/facts/Neo-Nazism/2HJmfQhR">neo-Nazis</a> around the world. The swastika was and continues to be used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in <a href="/facts/Indian_religions/XW0aX8GF">Indian religions</a>, including <a href="/facts/Hinduism/oxV9YvQh">Hinduism</a>, <a href="/facts/Buddhism/G0wsjrSl">Buddhism</a>, and <a href="/facts/Jainism/h0glxhjH">Jainism</a>. It generally takes the form of a <a href="/facts/Cross/a3W7gkFH">cross</a>, the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle.
The word swastika comes from <a href="/facts/Sanskrit_language/ychfjhlx">Sanskrit</a>: स्वस्तिक, <a href="/facts/Romanization_of_Sanskrit/N1NFy5A4">romanized</a>: svastika, meaning 'conducive to well-being'. In <a href="/facts/Hinduism/oxV9YvQh">Hinduism</a>, the right-facing symbol (clockwise) (卐) is called swastika, symbolizing <a href="/facts/Surya/TjA6jwVa">surya</a> ('sun'), prosperity and good luck, while the left-facing symbol (counter-clockwise) (卍) is called sauvastika, symbolising night or <a href="/facts/Tantra/PWp3GPK9">tantric</a> aspects of <a href="/facts/Kali/00Jylv53">Kali</a>. In <a href="/facts/Jain_symbols/44NNPEVP">Jain symbolism</a>, it is the part of the <a href="/facts/Jain_flag/CnFwX860">Jain flag</a>. It represents <a href="/facts/Suparshvanatha/MeY5589t">Suparshvanatha</a> – the seventh of 24 <a href="/facts/Tirthankara/cf8K8DIL">Tirthankaras</a> (<a href="/facts/Spiritual_teacher/AswCsrJG">spiritual teachers</a> and <a href="/facts/Salvation/vL69KuJB">saviours</a>), while in <a href="/facts/Buddhist_symbols/98Bjk6Pl">Buddhist symbolism</a> it represents the auspicious footprints of the <a href="/facts/Buddha/8UchTM1s">Buddha</a>. In the different <a href="/facts/Indo-European_languages/L34TfgSr">Indo-European</a> traditions, the swastika symbolises <a href="/facts/Fire/M6XwR3am">fire</a>, <a href="/facts/Lightning/dLTuxz8n">lightning</a> bolts, and the <a href="/facts/Sun/CadPCVHh">sun</a>. The symbol is found in the archaeological remains of the <a href="/facts/Indus_Valley_civilisation/6xM4aK23">Indus Valley civilisation</a> and <a href="/facts/Samarra_culture/CVyxgUrP">Samarra</a>, as well as in early <a href="/facts/Byzantine_Empire/njEELXWF">Byzantine</a> and <a href="/facts/Christian_art/WENTzI0m">Christian artwork</a>.
Although used for the first time as a symbol of international antisemitism by far-right Romanian politician <a href="/facts/A._C._Cuza/7gy3JBDY">A. C. Cuza</a> prior to <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, it was <a href="/facts/Western_use_of_the_swastika_in_the_early_20th_century/gh7ru5Et">a symbol of auspiciousness and good luck for most of the Western world</a> until the 1930s, when the German Nazi Party adopted the swastika as an emblem of the <a href="/facts/Aryan_race/yaS6DAHo">Aryan race</a>. As a result of <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a> and <a href="/facts/The_Holocaust/vGQsAb2y">the Holocaust</a>, in the West it continues to be strongly associated with <a href="/facts/Nazism/JjsMI4lE">Nazism</a>, <a href="/facts/Antisemitism/kUpfFkqx">antisemitism</a>, <a href="/facts/White_supremacy/RBQEYS2y">white supremacism</a>, or simply <a href="/facts/Evil/dWbPnzRF">evil</a>. As a consequence, its use in some countries, <a href="/facts/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a/NGIqVJoe">including Germany</a>, is <a href="/facts/Bans_on_Nazi_symbols/t2ooVyCf">prohibited by law</a>. However, the swastika remains a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain countries such as Nepal, India, Thailand, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, China and Japan, and carries various other meanings for peoples around the world, such as the <a href="/facts/Akan_people/JHbwYWDw">Akan</a>, <a href="/facts/Hopi/et30jSxz">Hopi</a>, <a href="/facts/Navajo/phXNDqz5">Navajo</a>, and <a href="/facts/Tlingit/gBEdklwR">Tlingit</a> peoples. It is also commonly used in Hindu marriage ceremonies and <a href="/facts/Divali/LdhcIQrj">Dipavali</a> celebrations.

Swastika open-in-new

Swastika