Swastika: Misunderstood Beauty

Symbols are very important and influential to everyone. Symbols holds a hidden meaning that, in most cases, are more influential than telling it blunt. Yes, sometimes telling it bluntly works but putting it as a symbol shows a deeper meaning and relevance to what you, your community, or your nation stands for.

Great Question! This symbol is called Nationalsozialismus, or in English, National Socialism (also called Nazism). This symbol represents the Natzi Party and also support for Adolf Hitler, the German leader for WWII, and his actions against Jews. But is this really what this symbol descended from? Hmm...

Symbolism is used in many ways and writers use symbolism to “enhance their writing.” It can give their work “more richness and color and can make the meaning of the work deeper.” In literary work the actions of the characters, words, action, place, or event has a deeper meaning in the context of the whole story. The reader needs to look see the little things like a dove symbolizes peace, or like the red rose stands for romance. Mostly everything can have a symbolism meaning to it. For instance the flag symbolizes freedom and the stars represent the states. Even some signs are symbols like when a beaker has a skull with a bones placed like an ‘x’ behind it symbolizes that it’s toxic or bad. When people see the red light when driving that’s

I wanted to give a brief introduction to the language of symbols by giving my opinion on some very common examples. Correlation does not equal causation but the pattern of association can often lead us to a more discerning perspective when examining usage of symbolism. Symbolism is used purposefully and with intent in many cases as we will see but it is also frequently used unintentionally as well. I chose a few simple examples for this video to get us started on the topic. Some of these images may be disturbing to you so now may be a good time to pause this

The Swastika originated over 3,000 years ago as symbol of good luck. (Symbology) It was very common from about 1,000 B.C. and was used in many cultures around the world, including China, Japan, India, and Southern Europe. By the middle ages it was well known and used every day by these cultures. Native Americans were another important culture to use the Swastika. It represented different meanings to various Native American tribes. It was a symbol the ancient Mississippian culture used to communicate their history, thoughts, ideas, and dreams. (Swastikas) These people were better known as the Mound Builders. They associated great mystical value to the Swastika and their sacred rites and rituals. These were special ceremonies. The Swastika to them helped recognize a whirling or turning motion. They saw the Swastika as a symbol of the sun, the four directions, and the four seasons. The

Maus, which is set in World War II time period, portrays propaganda as it was seen during the Holocaust. In Maus, Nazi propaganda targets the Jewish population to make audiences, which are German citizens, believe false statements about the Jews. They do so in order to have governmental control over the inferior race. Propaganda is perhaps a large basis of the book being that a popular Nazi symbol appears countless times in the book, including on the cover. The swastika, the prominent symbol of the Nazi party, derived in 1920 when Adolf Hitler was put in charge of the propaganda of the National Socialist Party, according to the Holocaust Teacher Resource Center. He

Hitler was at first imprisoned for trying to overthrow the government. While in jail, Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf, or My Struggle. This book appealed to many Germans, and helped Hitler rise to power. After being released from prison, Hitler discovered a group called the German Worker’s Party, or D.A.P. this group later became known as the Nazi party. “Hitler became chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933”(Rosenberg 24). After Hitler became chancellor, the Nazis started winning seats in the German government and had 230 seats by 1932. The Nazis took over most of Germany and adopted the swastika as their symbol. The swastika was a symbol of good luck and success. Now it is always associated with the Nazi

The Holocaust is consider one of the biggest hate crime that the world has witness. It is a hate crime due to the fact that is directed toward a specific group of people. Individual chosen or group chosen because they represent a group believed to represent a group that the perpetrator is biased against. Everything started when Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany, form 1934 to 1945. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. Hitler rose to power in German politics becoming the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Part; known as the Nazi Party. As the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945 he started WWII with the invention to Poland. Hitler was the orchestrated of the Holocaust, which resulted in the death of 6 million Jews. Hitler believes that Jews were an inferior race. According to Hitler Jews were an alien threat to German racial purity and community. “After years of Nazi rule in Germany, during which Jews were consistently persecuted, Hitler’s “final solution”–now known as the Holocaust–came to fruition under the cover of world war, with mass killing centers constructed in the concentration camps of occupied Poland “ (History 2009). Hitler’s symbol used to murder millions of people was the swastika. The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power,

Another very important way symbols are used to communicate a message to an audience are in cinema. A very popular film back during the World War era was Casablanca, which was practically entirely composed of symbols to represent America remaining neutral during World War II. Casablanca was created with the purpose of appealing to the American people as they utilize the characters in the film to symbolize America and the other countries involved in the war. The film includes a character who likes to be alone and refuses to help anyone else, but as the film progresses, the character becomes more compassionate and begins to become involved with helping others. This character symbolized America and how the country went from neutral to engaging

The peace sign is a circle with a vertical line and two downward sloping lines. The 1960’s era is the decade that the symbol is well known for. “During the 1960’s it symbolized the spirit of love, service to humanity, and peace. Its use grew from the anti-war hippie culture and quickly merged into mainstream society as it came to appear on everyday items such as advertisements, drawings, toys, and jewelry” (www.mortaljourney.com). Gerald Holtom, created the modern day peace sign on February 21, 1958, as a marketing symbol for the 1958 protest that took place in London.

Every business whatever large or small company all has their own symbol.Company also are replete with symbolically charged rituals,stories,celebrations,feasts,festivals and so on.Google's favicon from May 31, 1999

Great post! Not only is the shild, particularly the symbol's use with The Salvation Army, a well known symbol, it is a versitial symbol. From Super Man's "S" Shield to cherished family coat of arms, shield symbols are seemingly everywhere. I also like that shield have a degree of duality. While the Salvation Army uses the shield as a warm, protective symbol, it can also be a battle, or war time emblem. Thanks for the nice post!

There is a lot to be proud of in our symbol. The only problem with it is that it really doesn't truly represent us. Th cross and the flame are bold. They are distinctive. And they are bound to offend someone.

The swastika was far from being Hitler's own invention. It originated in primitive cultures when people noticed that the big dipper rotated around the North Star. This rotation formed the pattern of a swastika when charted four times a year, that is, every thirteen weeks. The implication

Symbols are used to signify values and ideas, carrying meaning beyond that which appears to be described. Political symbols, in particular, represent the ideals that define a society, and as such, are compelling forces. Some such symbols can be used to instill fear in people and subdue them to allow corrupt regimes to continue to asserting their dominance in a society and maintain control. In the face of such injustice and oppression, other political symbols can, arguably, carry an even greater value, as they can give strength to the marginalized, giving them an emblem under which they can express their ideals. Simple objects can hold such power since the ideas they symbolize are timeless, transcending a single