Swastika

The swastika (in German Hakenkreuz ) drift of the Swatiska, at the origin Indian symbol equipped with beneficial, or Greek virtue symbolizing the Milky Way, used by Adolf Hitler and the Party national-Socialist of the German workers (NSDAP) to represent the Aryan superiority .

Swastika is a laevogyrous representation of the Svastika, symbol of the Hindu goddess Kali. While in Occident, swastika is generally associated with the Nazism, it is not the case in the East; thus, the dextrogyre swatiska is a Buddhist symbol which one finds on the statues of the Bodhisattva S and by reference in particular the Buddhist temples in the plans of cities indicates. One finds various uses of this symbol, in a direction or the other in various cultures around the world.

The laevogyrous swatiska black, emblem of the Nazism, was transformed by inclining it with 45° on a white circle, less frequent position for the swatiska (dextrogyre) Indian. As Heraldic term, it is thus not acted strictly speaking of a “cross”, like the swatiska of origin, but of a “saltire range”.

Swastika was adopted by NSDAP whereas it was yet only the Parti the German workers (DAP), and became as of 1920 its emblem official. The black cross represents the combat, the white circle represents the purity (i.e. the Aryan race), and the red represents the social thought.

Choice of the swatiska

At the beginning of the 20th century, the swatiska was known in Occident like auspicieux Indian symbol, particularly familiar with the Britanniques having been useful in the army of the Indies.

He was also regarded as a symbol Indo-European, or more specifically Aryan. Emile Burnouf, orientalist, saw in the Aryen S a race higher than pantheist tendency , higher than the Sémite S monotheists. Consulted by Schliemann following its discovery of swatiska on the supposed site of Troy, it claimed to recognize a ritual blazing inferno there and declared the symbol typically Aryan. This idea was spread by many authors, in particular Guido von List, German nationalist poet.

The dextrogyre Svastika was thus employed in Europe like simple amulet of Indian origin (in particular in England), or like emblem combining auspicieuse value and Indo-European ethnic identity (without being obligatorily related to a racist ideology ). In Germany however, other popular nationalist movements known as Völkisch used it under its laevogyrous representation. The version Nazi, under the influence of Alfred Rosenberg, principal author of the racial theory of the Third Reich, saw in Aryan people of Masters ancestors of the German having invaded Northern Europe, and made swatiska, according to the proper words of Hitler, it symbol of the combat for the victory of the Aryan one . According to Jose Manuel Erbez, specialist in the flags, the Ordre of the new templiers founded by Lanz von Liebenfels in Austria also had as an emblem a swatiska of Aryan superiority surrounded by four flowers of lily.

The final shape of the emblem Nazi

In Mein Kampf , Adolf Hitler presents the debate which surrounded the development of the badge Nazi, for which a true contest of ideas was launched. It is to be specified that Hitler attached not only importance to the symbol, but especially with the choice of the colors (red, white, black, colors of the German Empire, betrayed by the criminal of November ). It justifies its choice, in particular by the concern which it had to reinforce the visual impact of the emblem Nazi and explains as the role as it played in his design:

Myself, however, after many attempts, I stopped with a final form: a white round on red bottom, and a black swastika in the medium. After long tests, I found also a relation defined between the dimension of the flag, the size of the white round, the shape and the thickness of swastika. And it remained thus.

Hitler could be influenced by the Société of Thulé with which the DAP maintained the reports/ratios already. A member of this company, a dentist of Starnberg, Friedich Krohn, mentioned in Mein Kampf , had drawn and proposed a flag similar to that of NSDAP.

The orientation of swastika, pointing towards the line like the auspicieux swatiska Indian, was definitively fixed during the summer 1920; one took care which the flags are designed so as to always show it according to this orientation whatever the face observed. However, according to Ralph Stelter, this precaution was not taken for the flags at sea on which the cross can thus appear reversed.

Alternatives

There exist several alternatives of swastika:
  • tilted black Cross with 45° on a white disc (example: flag of NSDAP and Third Reich)
  • tilted black Cross with 45° on a white square on point (example: Youths hitlériennes)
  • tilted black Cross with 45° bordered of black and white on a white disc (example: teach war)
  • black Croix horizontal broadside of black and white on a white disc (example: personal flag of Hitler surrounded by a gold crown; Schutzstaffel - emblem of divisions S; Reichsdienstflagge -   flag used by the administrations and boats civils  - surrounded by a black circle)
  • Small inclined crosses with 45° gold, money, black or white, sometimes between the greenhouses of an eagle (badges and flags)
  • Cross with the curved branches forming a circle broken (Division S Nordland; foreign division)

Official use

It appeared on all the Drapeau X, badges and arm-bands of the NSDAP, like on decorations like the Croix of iron.

According to Jose Manuel Erbez, it is with the lake Tegernsee that the first flags Nazis were shown, of artisanal invoice, but none was preserved. Their first public official use goes back to Orstgruppe München .

March 14th, 1933, shortly after the accession of Hitler at the post of chancellor, the flag Nazi was hoisted at the same time as the national flag, becoming national Co-flag.

At the time of the congress of Nuremberg, it will become the only national flag on September 15th, 1935.

Civil associations such as the Reichsbund Deutsche Jägerschaft also used a marked arm-band of a swastika.

Exotic uses of swastika

With Taiwan, the racial value of the emblem Nazi and even the Shoah were until the medium of the ignored Années 1980 majority of people. Swastika evoked only the German military power, and could be occasionally seen on accessories of motor bike or packing of models of machines of the Second world war. Its use was almost completely abandoned after the German representation as Israeli had protested against a publicity campaign on the side of the buses of Taipei. Swastika appeared in it to praise the technical quality and the solidity of a household product.

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