Swastika

Meaning of Swastika

Swastika derives from the Sanskrit svastika meaning happiness, pleasure and good luck.

Other alternative ways of naming the symbol are: Black spider – as called by several people in Western Europe; Crooked Cross and Gamada Cross or on hooks.

It is a mystical symbol found in different cultures at different times, from the Hopi Indians to the Aztecs, from the Celts to the Buddhists, from the Greeks to the Hindus.

Some researchers believe it has a special value, as it is found in many cultures without contact with each other.

Geometricamente pode ser definida como um icoságono (polígono de 20 lados) irregular. Possuem detalhes gráficos bastante distintos. Os braços têm largura variável e são frequentemente retilíneos (não sendo obrigatório). Vários desenhos de usam figuras com três linhas. Outras chamadas suásticas não têm braços e consistem de cruzes com linhas curvas. Os símbolos Islâmicos e Malteses parecem mais hélices do que suásticas. A celta dificilmente se assemelha a uma. Na China há um símbolo de orientação quádrupla, que segue os pontos cardeais.

No Japão, (卍 manji), é utilizada para representar templos e santuários em mapas, bem como em outros países do extremo oriente. As suásticas Budistas e Hopi parecem reflexos no espelho do símbolo Nazista.A nazista tem os braços, apontando para o sentido horário, indo para a direita e roda a figura de modo a um dos braços estar no topo. As proporções também são fixas: fixadas numa grade 5×5.

History of the Swastika

It was recognized in an important archaeological work by Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered this image in the ancient site where the city of Troy was located, and was then associated with the ancestral migrations of the Proto-Indo-European people of the Aryans. He made a connection between these finds and ancient Germanic vases, and theorized that the swastika was a significant religious symbol of our remote ancestors, uniting ancient Germanic and Greek and Vedic cultures. The couple William Thomas and Kate Pavitt speculated that the spread of the swastika among different world cultures (India, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Europe) pointed to a common origin, possibly from Atlantis.

The Nazis used these ideas, from the beginning of the movements called völkisch, adopting the swastika as a symbol of Aryan identity – groups originating in northern Europe.

The swastika survives as a symbol of neo-Nazi groups or as a way for some activist groups to offend their opponents.

In Brazil, its use for Nazi purposes constitutes a crime, according to law 9,459, of 1997, in accordance with the first paragraph of article 20:

§ 1 Manufacture, sell, distribute or broadcast symbols, emblems, ornaments, badges or propaganda that use the swastika or gamma cross, for the purposes of promoting Nazism.

The penalty is two years to five years in prison and a fine.