Nazi Symbols Used as Decorations on New Clothing Line, page 1

Here are some examples of the swastika element in the cultures of
India, China, Ancient Greece, Israel, America and Europe.

The word SWASTIKA is derived from the Sanskrit word: SVASTIKAH, which means 'being fortunate'. The first part of the word, SVASTI-, can be divided into two parts: SU- 'good; well', and -ASTI- 'is'. The -ASTIKAH part just means 'being'. The word is associated with auspicious things in India - - because it means 'auspicious'.

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In India, both clockwise and counterclockwise swastikas were used, with different meanings. Since the swastika is a simple symbol, it has been used, perhaps independently, by many human societies. One of the oldest known swastikas was painted on a Paleolithic cave at least 10,000 years ago. The swastika still continues today to be an extensively used sign in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. In Jainism, it delineates their seventh saint, and the four arms are also used to remind the worshiper of the four possible places of rebirth; the animal or plant world, in Hell, on Earth, or in the spirit world. To Hindus, the swastika with the arms bent to the left is called the sathio or sauvastika, which symbolizes night, magic, purity, and the destructive goddess Kali. In both Hinduism and Jainism, the swastika or sathio is used to mark the opening pages or their account books, thresholds, doors, and offerings.

Swastika as hinduist and jainist symbol

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In China, about 2000 years ago, when Buddhism was brought to China from India, the Chinese also borrowed the swastika and its sense of auspiciousness. In China, the swastika is considered to be a Chinese character with the reading of WAN (in Mandarin). It is also thought to be equivalent to another Chinese character with the same pronunciation, which means 'ten thousand; a large number; all'.

The silk was discovered during the 1970s at Mawangdui, near Changsa, in Number Three Tomb. There were 29 comets illustrated on the silk, of which the last 4 are shown above. As you can see, the last comet, on the far left, is illustrated by a Swastika.

According to Joe Hofler, who also refers to Dr. Kumbari of the museum of Urumqi in Xinjiang, China, the Indo-Aryans of the Germanic branch traveled into Europe around 2000 BC and brought with them the "swastika" symbol (sun disk) of their religious art at that time as shown by excavations of Kurgan graves on the steppes of Russia and Indo-Aryan graves in Xinjiang, China.

The ancient Chinese WuShu coin

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In Greece, Ancient Crete and Ancient Troy the swastika was widely used as decorative element.

A Geometric Bowl at
the Otago Museum
dates to the 8th century B.C.

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In the Americas, the swastika was used by Native Americans in North, Central, and South America. The swastika was also widely used in Mayan and Aztec art. In North America, the swastika was a symbol used by the Navajos, Tennessee and Ohio Indian burial mounds (Hopewell Mound).
Rug from Central America

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In Israel one can find the swastika as element of decoration in ancient synagogues.

Ein-Gedi -
The Swastika mosaic from the earlier synagogue.

Maoz Haim -
The Swastika on the synagogue mosaic floor.

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In Europe, found in the Catacombs of Rome (see Crux Dissimulata), embroidered on Christian vestments (8th and 9th cent. CE), it was known to Germanic tribes as the "Cross of Thor". As the "Cross of Thor", the symbol was even brought to England by Scandinavian settlers in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, long before Hitler.
11th century mosaic in St.Sophia Church. Kiev. Ukraine.

Soviet Army patch. 1919.
Swastika as a symbol of luck on the post card.

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"The swastika symbolizes so much more than what the Nazis planned. The swastika existed as a symbol of good fortune thousands of years before the Nazis even existed. The symbol is to many cultures an important one, representing their history and beliefs. The Nazis, by taking the swastika, annihilated the significance of the ancient symbol. Today, the swastika is to most people a symbol of evil, a symbol of demise, and a symbol of ruination. It is extremely depressing to find that although the swastika is a symbol of life, and symbol of joy, it has been made a symbol of evil, something the people of the ancient world never intended it to be." by Chirag Badlani