Swastikas in History – Almost everyone alive today has always associated the swastika with evil; it was the most visible and representative item in Hitler’s Nazi propaganda machine. But the swastika has a rich history that started at least 11,000 years before 1920, the year it was adopted by the Nazis. It appears to have first been used in Neolithic Eurasia, with the earliest known object with swastika-motif on it dated to 10,000 BCE. It appears in many different cultures throughout history, although the exact origins are not known.
The word itself, swastika, comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “lucky or auspicious object”. It continues to be a sacred symbol in many religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism.
Even in the early 20th century, the symbol was still used as a symbol of good luck or good fortune. Popular brands and sports teams utilized the symbol, all needing to change once it became associated with the Nazi’s. While it would be an incredibly bad idea to walk around like this today, these people thought nothing of covering themselves in swastikas.
