The phrase 10 historical swastikas instantly conjures images of a dark chapter in modern history, but the truth is far richer. Long before the Nazi regime hijacked the sign, countless cultures embraced it as a beacon of luck, spirituality, and cosmic order. Let’s embark on a whirlwind tour of ten fascinating swastika‑style symbols that have nothing to do with fascism, yet everything to do with humanity’s shared symbols.
10. Historical Swastikas: A Global Overview
10. Whirling Logs
Resembling a swastika in its basic form, the “whirling log” has been a staple of Southwest Native American iconography for centuries, tracing back to the enigmatic Anasazi. Navajo legends tell of the tale of the whirling log, or “Tsil‑ol‑ni,” where an outcast drifts down a river inside a hollow log, eventually arriving at a realm of abundance and prosperity.
Among various tribal interpretations, the whirling log often symbolizes the four winds or the four cardinal directions. It remained a purely ceremonial motif until 1896, when artisans began weaving it into Navajo rugs and carving it onto wooden spoons.
In the early twentieth century, non‑Native groups co‑opted the design as a good‑luck charm—appearing on New Mexico coal‑mining insignia and even on the University of New Mexico yearbook titled The Swastika. After World War II, several tribes—including the Navajo, Apache, Tohono O’odham, and Hopi—collectively decided to stop using the emblem on blankets, baskets, sandpaintings, and clothing due to its Nazi‑era stigma. Recent years, however, have seen a resurgence of interest in reclaiming the whirling log as a genuine Native American symbol.
9. Gammadion
The ancient Greeks fashioned a swastika‑like sign called the “gammadion,” or “crux gammata,” composed of four capital gamma letters whose arms converge at a central point. Early Christians appropriated the gammadion as a representation of Christ’s cross, even using it as a covert symbol—known as “crux dissimulata”—during periods of persecution by the Roman Empire. This secretive set included symbols like the swastika, axe, anchor, and trident.
Scholars suggest the gammadion may have signified Christ as the cornerstone of the church or served as a protective emblem for souls within catacombs. Long before Christianity’s rise, Mediterranean cultures such as the Minoans, Greeks, and Etruscans employed the motif in sun‑worship and labyrinthine designs.
The gammadion’s migration into early Christian art is evident on shrines, clergy garments, and depictions of Jesus. While some argue it hints at Indian religious influence on Western faiths, most historians view it as a parallel development rooted in shared solar symbolism.
8. Wan
In Buddhist tradition, the swastika—referred to as wan in Chinese and manji in Japanese—signifies the “resignation of spirit.” Different colored swastikas convey distinct blessings: blue denotes heaven’s eternal benevolence, red reflects the Buddha’s boundless compassion, yellow stands for infinite prosperity, and green symbolizes limitless cultivation.
According to Buddhist lore, a left‑facing swastika was the first of 65 auspicious symbols to appear on the Buddha’s footprint, while a right‑facing version was the fourth. The emblem often appears on the Buddha’s chest, forehead, palm, or foot, serving as a seal of his heart. Some scholars argue its shape derives from early alphabets created by Emperor Ashoka, or from Pali symbols for “su” and “ti,” meaning “well” and “it is.”
The Tibetan Bon tradition calls the swastika gyung‑drung (“eternal and unchanging”), using a counter‑clockwise orientation—hence Bon pilgrims circle sacred sites in the opposite direction. In Chinese, the swastika is known as the “ten‑thousand” character, a symbol of myriad blessings that appears in Unicode and often marks the beginning of Buddhist texts or indicates a temple on Japanese maps.
7. Gahuli
The Jain faith traditionally embraces the swastika, dubbed “Gahuli” or “Ghaunli,” typically accompanied by four dots representing the four possible destinies of a soul across lifetimes: human, animal, divine, and hellish existence.
The swastika itself carries layered meanings. It evokes a wheel, symbolizing the endless cycle of material existence. Its four arms correspond to the four branches of Jainism—sadhus (monks), sadhvis (nuns), shravaks (male laypeople), and shravikas (female laypeople). The emblem also reminds adherents of the four eternal qualities of the soul: knowledge, perception, happiness, and energy.
Jain iconography often pairs the swastika with an open hand inscribed with “Ahimsa” (non‑violence) and three dots above, representing the three jewels: right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct. A curved arc with a dot crowns the design, symbolizing a liberated soul’s final destination, while the overall outline depicts the universe’s structure—seven hells, the earth, planets, and heavenly realms. In Western contexts, many Jains substitute the swastika with the sacred syllable “Om” to avoid misinterpretation.
6. Swasti
In Vedic Hinduism, the term “swastika” stems from the root “swasti,” meaning “let good things happen” or “well‑being.” Historically, it signified prosperity and auspiciousness, woven into rituals, names, farewells, and celebratory expressions.
Its earliest roots likely lie in the Sun‑worship practices of the Indus Valley civilization, later integrating into Hindu worship. The symbol portrays Brahman’s dual aspects: the clockwise swastika denotes universal expansion, while the counter‑clockwise version signifies inward spiritual contraction—often linked to Tantra and, regrettably, to Nazi appropriation.
The Hindu swastika’s four arms embody a wealth of concepts: the Four Vedas, the four aims of life (dharma, artha, kama, moksha), the four life stages, the four cardinal directions, the four seasons, and the four Yugas. It also appears alongside deities such as Ganesha—often depicted seated on a lotus surrounded by swastikas—and Lakshmi, symbolizing luck, commerce crossroads, tantric posture, and even culinary delights like a special cake.
5. Hakaristi
Known in Finnish as hakaristi, the swastika served as a good‑luck emblem throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic region for millennia, adorning pottery and rune stones. Swedish aristocrat Count Erik von Rosen adopted it personally, stamping his luggage during voyages to South America and Africa. Following Finland’s 1917 independence, Rosen gifted the fledgling nation its first military aircraft—a single‑engine ski‑plane emblazoned with a swastika.
In 1918, Finland’s air force officially embraced a straight‑lined blue swastika on a white field, a design that persisted throughout World War II. Post‑war, the symbol faced bans, though it resurfaced on some flags in 1957. By 2007, Finnish charities began selling swastika‑styled rings—complete with stylized wings—to fund veteran causes, keeping the emblem alive in popular culture.
Modern awareness remains mixed; a Moscow toy store faced police scrutiny for selling scale models of historic Finnish aircraft bearing the swastika, illustrating lingering sensitivities. Nonetheless, the symbol retains a positive cultural resonance within Finland, celebrated in jewelry and charitable initiatives.
4. Emblem Of Fohat
Theosophists view the swastika as a universal sign, linking disparate cultures across epochs. Madame Helena Blavatsky identified it as the emblem of Fohat—cosmic electricity—defining it as the active (male) potency of Shakti, the primordial light that drives creation and destruction.
Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine recounts an ancient rite wherein mystics placed the swastika upon the chests of defunct adepts and burned it into initiates, believing that as Fohat crossed the circle like intersecting flames, it summoned celestial guardians to watch over the planets.
She further claimed the swastika’s arms represent the four elements, while its crooked lines echo Pythagorean and Hermetic scales, allowing the initiated to trace the cosmos’s evolution. Modern Theosophical Society seals incorporate a clockwise “whirling cross” swastika, symbolizing dynamic creation, encircled by a boundary denoting the universe, with the central point reflecting stillness. A counter‑clockwise swastika, however, is associated with destructive forces, reminiscent of the Nazi appropriation.
3. Kipling’s Literary Stamp
British author Rudyard Kip‑Kipling frequently adorned his book dust‑jackets with the swastika during the late 1800s, likely inspired by his father’s fascination with Indian art. Both clockwise and counter‑clockwise versions appeared, as Kipling and his publishers seemed unaware of the directional nuances denoting luck.
Kipling’s works also featured elephant heads—a tribute to Ganesha—and lotus motifs. When Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933, Kipling expressed outright disgust, calling the Nazis “Hun” and condemning their brutality. He subsequently removed the swastika from his bindings, declaring it “defiled beyond redemption.”
Even today, second‑hand bookstores occasionally field bewildered customers questioning why a classic like The Jungle Book still bears the swastika, a relic of a pre‑Nazi era when the symbol represented good fortune rather than hate.
2. Fylfot
In medieval England, the swastika was often called a “fylfot,” derived from the Anglo‑Saxon “feower fot,” meaning “four‑foot.” Some scholars link it to Thor’s hammer, which explains its presence on church bells in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire—areas steeped in Norse influence.
Variants of the fylfot appeared on 18th‑century Scotch‑Irish Presbyterian gravestones in the New World, symbolizing resurrection and eternal life. Modern neo‑pagan Odinists have reclaimed the sign, interpreting it as a holy European emblem predating Christianity.
Interpretations abound: it may represent Thor’s hammer, a sun‑wheel, or the cosmos revolving around Yggdrasil. The four arms have been associated with high festivals (solstices and equinoxes), the four seasons, life stages, day phases, the classical elements, lunar phases, and the cardinal directions.
1. Raelian Pro‑Swastika Movement
The Raelian movement, founded by UFO‑cult leader Rael, employs a controversial emblem that merges the swastika with the Star of David. Rael claims he first saw the combined symbol on the hull of an Elohim spacecraft, interpreting the Star of David as “infinity in space” and the swastika as “infinity in time.”
Because of its fascist overtones and the group’s alleged support for social Darwinism and eugenics, French authorities have scrutinized the cult. In 1990, Rael’s followers swapped the hybrid for a six‑pointed star encircling an abstract galaxy, hoping to persuade Israel to permit a $7 million embassy for the Elohim in Jerusalem—an overture that was ultimately rebuffed.
By 2005, Rael reinstated the original swastika‑Star of David design, arguing in A Brief Guide to Secret Religions that the swastika is a universal peace symbol among Hindus, Buddhists, and Raelians alike, representing eternity in time.
Since then, the group has spearheaded the Pro‑Swastika Alliance, staging annual “Swastika Rehabilitation Week” events worldwide. In 2014‑15, they sparked controversy by flying planes bearing swastika banners over New York beaches and projecting a commercial in Times Square where swimmers formed a swastika in a pool. Similar spectacles unfolded in Mexico, France, and South Korea.
David Tormsen, a commentator on the movement, expressed mild disappointment that the cult had not adopted the hammer and sickle or a 19th‑century Unitarian emblem. He can be reached at email@protected.