Swastika (Skt. स्वस्तिक from Skt. स्वस्ति , svasti, greeting, good luck) - a cross with curved ends (“rotating”), directed clockwise (卐) or counterclockwise (卍). The swastika is one of the most ancient and widespread graphic symbols.
The swastika was used by many peoples of the world - it was present on weapons, objects everyday life, clothing, banners and coats of arms, was used in the decoration of churches and houses. The oldest archaeological finds depicting the swastika date back to approximately 10-15 millennium BC.
The swastika as a symbol has many meanings, for most peoples all of them were positive. For most ancient peoples, the swastika was a symbol of the movement of life, the Sun, light and prosperity.
Occasionally, the swastika is also used in heraldry, mainly English, where it is called fylfot and is usually depicted with shortened ends.
In the Vologda region, where swastika patterns and signs are extremely widespread, village elders in the 50s said that the word swastika - Russian word, which comes from sva- (one’s own, following the example of matchmaker, brother-in-law, etc.) -isti- or is, I exist, with the addition of the particle -ka, which must be understood as reducing the meaning of the main word (river - river, stove - stove, etc. . d.), that is, a sign. Thus, the word swastika, in this etymology, means a sign of “one’s own,” and not someone else’s. What was it like for our grandfathers, from the same Vologda region, to see themselves on the banners worst enemy sign “there is one”.
Near the constellation Ursa Major (Dr. Makosh) highlight the constellation Swastikas, which to date is not included in any astronomical atlas.
Constellation swastikas in the upper left corner of the image of the star map in the Earth's sky
Basic energy centers human beings, called chakras in the East, were previously called swastikas on the territory of modern Rus': the oldest amulet symbol of the Slavs and Aryans, a symbol of the eternal circulation of the Universe. The swastika reflects the Highest Heavenly Law, to which all things are subject. This fire sign was used by people as a talisman that protects the existing order in the Universe.
Swastika in the cultures of countries and peoples
The swastika is one of the most archaic sacred symbols, found already in the Upper Paleolithic among many peoples of the world. India, ancient Rus', China, Ancient Egypt, the Mayan state in Central America - this is the incomplete geography of this symbol. Swastika symbols were used to designate calendar signs back in the days of the Scythian kingdom. The swastika can be seen on old Orthodox icons. The swastika is a symbol of the Sun, good luck, happiness, creation (the “correct” swastika). And, accordingly, the swastika in the opposite direction symbolizes darkness, destruction, the “night Sun” among the ancient Russians. As can be seen from ancient ornaments, in particular on jugs found in the vicinity of Arkaim, both swastikas were used. It has deep meaning. Day follows night, light follows darkness, rebirth follows death - and this is the natural order of things in the Universe. Therefore, in ancient times there were no “bad” and “good” swastikas - they were perceived in unity.
This symbol was found on clay vessels from Samarra (territory modern Iraq), which date back to the 5th millennium BC. The swastika in levorotatory and dextrorotatory forms is found in the pre-Aryan culture of Mohenjo-Daro (Indus River basin) and ancient China around 2000 BC. In Northeast Africa, archaeologists have found a funerary stele from the kingdom of Meroz, which existed in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. The fresco on the stele depicts a woman entering the afterlife; a swastika also appears on the clothes of the deceased. The rotating cross also decorates golden weights for scales that belonged to the inhabitants of Ashanta (Ghana), and clay utensils of the ancient Indians, and Persian carpets. The swastika was on almost all amulets of the Slavs, Germans, Pomors, Skalvi, Curonians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Mordovians, Udmurts, Bashkirs, Chuvash and many other peoples. In many religions, the swastika is an important religious symbol.
Children light oil lamps during Diwali on New Year's Eve.
The swastika in India has traditionally been seen as solar sign- a symbol of life, light, generosity and abundance. She was closely connected with the cult of the god Agni. She is mentioned in the Ramayana. Was made in the shape of a swastika wooden instrument to produce the sacred fire. They laid him flat on the ground; the depression in the middle served for a rod, which was rotated until a fire appeared, lit on the altar of the deity. It was carved in many temples, on rocks, on ancient monuments of India. Also a symbol of esoteric Buddhism. In this aspect it is called the “Seal of the Heart” and, according to legend, was imprinted on the heart of the Buddha. Her image is placed on the hearts of initiates after their death. Known as the Buddhist cross (shape similar to the Maltese cross). The swastika is found wherever there are traces Buddhist culture- on rocks, in temples, stupas and on Buddha statues. Together with Buddhism, it penetrated from India to China, Tibet, Siam and Japan.
In China, the swastika is used as a symbol of all the deities worshiped in the Lotus School, as well as in Tibet and Siam. In ancient Chinese manuscripts it included such concepts as “region” and “country”. Known in the form of a swastika are two curved mutually truncated fragments of a double helix, expressing the symbolism of the relationship between “Yin” and “Yang”. In maritime civilizations, the double helix motif was an expression of the relationship between opposites, a sign of the Upper and Lower Waters, and also signified the process of the formation of life. Widely used by Jains and followers of Vishnu. In Jainism, the four arms of the swastika represent the four levels of existence. On one of the Buddhist swastikas, each blade of the cross ends with a triangle indicating the direction of movement and crowned with an arch of the flawed moon, in which the sun is placed, like in a boat. This sign represents the sign of the mystical arba, the creative quaternary, also called the hammer of Thor. A similar cross was found by Schliemann during the excavations of Troy.
Greek helmet with swastika, 350-325 BC from Taranto, found in Herculanum. Cabinet of medals. Paris.
Swastika on Russian territory
A special type of swastika, symbolizing the rising Sun-Yarila, the victory of Light over Darkness, Eternal life above death, called brace(lit. "rotation of the wheel", Old Church Slavonic form Kolovrat was also used in Old Russian language).
The swastika was used in rituals and construction. So, in particular, many ancient Slavic settlements had the shape of a swastika, oriented to the four cardinal directions. The swastika was often the main element of Proto-Slavic ornaments.
According to archaeological excavations, this is exactly how some ancient cities in Russia were built. Such a circular structure can be observed, for example, in Arkaim - one of the famous and oldest buildings in Russia. Arkaim was built according to a pre-designed plan as a single complex complex, moreover, oriented towards astronomical objects with the greatest precision. The design formed by the four entrances in the outer wall of Arkaim is a swastika. Moreover, the swastika is “correct”, that is, directed towards the Sun.
The swastika was also used by the peoples of Russia in homespun production: in embroidery on clothes, on carpets. Decorated with swastikas household utensils. She was also present on the icons.
In light of the often heated and controversial discussions surrounding ancient symbol Russian National Culture - the Gammatical Cross (Yarga-Swastika) must be reminded that it was one of the symbols of the struggle against the centuries-old oppression of the Russian people. Not many people know that many centuries ago “the Lord God indicated to Emperor Constantine the Great that with the cross he would win... only with Christ and precisely with the Cross would the Russian People defeat all their enemies and finally throw off the hated yoke of the Jews! But the Cross with which the Russian People will win is not simple, but, as usual, golden, but for the time being it is hidden from many Russian Patriots under the rubble of lies and slander.” In news reports based on the books of Kuznetsov V.P. “The history of the development of the shape of the cross.” M. 1997; Kutenkova P. I. “Yarga-swastika - a sign of Russian folk culture” St. Petersburg. 2008; Bagdasarov R. “The Mysticism of the Fiery Cross” M. 2005, talks about the place in the culture of the Russian People of the most blessed cross - the swastika. The swastika cross has one of the most perfect forms and contains in graphic form the entire mystical secret of God's Providence and the entire dogmatic completeness of Church teaching.
Icon "Symbol of Faith"
Swastika in the RSFSR
It is necessary to remind and remember from now on that “Russians are the third Chosen People of God ( “The Third Rome is Moscow, the Fourth will not happen”); swastika - a graphic image of the entire mystical mystery of God's Providence, and the entire dogmatic completeness of Church teaching; The Russian People are under the sovereign hand of the Victorious Tsar from the Reigning House of Romanov, who swore to God in 1613 to be faithful until the end of time and this people will defeat all their enemies under the banners on which the swastika - the gammatic cross - will develop under the face of the Savior Not Made by Hands! In the State Emblem, the swastika will also be placed on a large crown, which symbolizes the power of the Anointed Tsar both in the earthly Church of Christ and in the Kingdom of God’s Chosen Russian People.”
In 3-2 millennia BC. e. swastika braiding is found on Eneolithic ceramics from the Tomsk-Chulym region and on gold and bronze items of the Slavs found in the burial mounds of the Stavropol region in the Kuban. In the second half of the 4th millennium BC. e. swastika symbols are common in the North Caucasus (where the Sumerians - the Proto-Slavs - come from) in the form huge models Sun-mounds. In plan, the mounds are already known varieties swastika. Only magnified thousands of times. At the same time, a swastika ornament in the form of a wickerwork is often found at the Neolithic sites of the Kama region and the Northern Volga region. A swastika on a clay vessel found in Samara also dates back to 4000 BC. e. At the same time, a four-pointed zoomorphic swastika is depicted on a vessel from the area between the Prut and Dniester rivers. In the 5th millennium BC. e. Slavic religious symbols - swastikas - are ubiquitous. Anatolian dishes depict a centripetal rectangular swastika surrounded by two circles of fish and long-tailed birds. Spiral-shaped swastikas were found in Northern Moldova, as well as in the area between the Seret and Stryp rivers and in the Moldavian Carpathian region. In the 6th millennium BC. e. swastikas are common on spindle whorls in Mesopotamia, in the Neolithic culture of Tripoli-Cucuteni, on the bowls of Samara, etc. In the 7th millennium BC. e. Slavic swastikas inscribed on clay seals of Anatolia and Mesopotamia.
An ornamental swastika net was found in stamps and on a bracelet made from mammoth bone in Myozin, Chernigov region. And this is a find from the 23rd millennium BC! And 35-40 thousand years ago, the Neanderthals who inhabited Siberia, as a result of two to three million years of adaptation, acquired the appearance of Caucasians, as evidenced by the teeth of adolescents discovered in the Altai caves of Denisov, named after Okladchikov and in the village of Sibiryachikha. And these anthropological studies were carried out by the American anthropologist K. Turner.
Swastikas in post-imperial Russia
In Russia, the swastika first appeared in official symbols in 1917 - it was then, on April 24, that the Provisional Government issued a decree on the release of new banknotes in denominations of 250 and 1000 rubles. The peculiarity of these bills was that they had an image of a swastika. Here is a description of the front side of the 1000-ruble banknote, given in paragraph No. 128 of the Senate resolution of June 6, 1917:
“The main pattern of the grid consists of two large oval guilloche rosettes - right and left... In the center of each of both large rosettes there is a geometric pattern formed by crosswise intersecting wide stripes, bent at right angles, at one end to the right, and at the other to the left... The intermediate background between both large rosettes is filled with a guilloche pattern, and the center of this background is occupied geometric ornament the same pattern as in both rosettes, but larger.”
Unlike the 1,000-ruble banknote, the 250-ruble banknote had only one swastika - in the center behind the eagle. From the banknotes of the Provisional Government, the swastika migrated to the first Soviet banknotes. True, in this case this was caused by production necessity, and not ideological considerations: the Bolsheviks, who were preoccupied with issuing their own money in 1918, simply took ready-made cliches of the new banknotes (5,000 and 10,000 rubles) that were being prepared, created by order of the Provisional Government for release in 1918. Kerensky and his comrades were unable to print these banknotes due to known circumstances, but the leadership of the RSFSR found the clichés useful. Thus, swastikas were present on Soviet banknotes of 5,000 and 10,000 rubles. These banknotes were in circulation until 1922.
The Red Army also used swastikas. In November 1919, the commander of the South-Eastern Front V.I. Shorin issued order No. 213, which introduced a new sleeve insignia for Kalmyk formations. The appendix to the order also included a description of the new sign: “Rhombus measuring 15x11 centimeters made of red cloth. In the upper corner there is a five-pointed star, in the center there is a wreath, in the middle of which is “LYUNGTN” with the inscription “R. S.F.S.R. “Star diameter - 15 mm, wreath 6 cm, size “LYUNGTN” - 27 mm, letter - 6 mm. Badge for command and administrative staff embroidered in gold and silver and stenciled for the Red Army soldiers. The star, “lyungtn” and the ribbon of the wreath are embroidered in gold (for Red Army soldiers - with yellow paint), the wreath itself and the inscription are embroidered in silver (for Red Army soldiers - with white paint).” The mysterious abbreviation (if it is, of course, an abbreviation at all) LYUNGTN precisely denoted the swastika.
Over the course of a number of years, the author’s collection was replenished, and in 1971 a full-fledged book on vexillology was prepared, supplemented by historical background information explaining the evolution of flags. The book was supplied alphabetical index names of countries in Russian and English languages. The book was designed by artists B. P. Kabashkin, I. G. Baryshev and V. V. Borodin, who painted flags specifically for this publication.
Although almost two years passed from being type-set (December 17, 1969) to being signed for printing (September 15, 1971), and the text of the book was as ideologically verified as possible, a disaster happened. When receiving signal copies of the finished edition (75 thousand copies) from the printing house, it was discovered that the illustrations on a number of pages historical section contain images of flags with swastikas (pages 5-8; 79-80; 85-86 and 155-156). Emergency measures were taken to reprint these pages in an edited form, that is, without these illustrations. Then the ideologically harmful, “anti-Soviet” sheets were manually (for the entire circulation!) cut out and new ones were pasted in, in the spirit of communist ideology.
The Ynglings claim that the ancient Slavs used 144 swastika symbols. Also, they offer their own decoding of the word “Swastika”: “Sva” - “vault”, “heaven”, “S” - direction of rotation, “Tika” - “running”, “movement”, which defines: “Coming from the sky” .
Swastika in India
Swastika on a Buddha statue
In pre-Buddhist ancient Indian and some other cultures, the swastika is usually interpreted as a sign of favorable destinies, a symbol of the sun. This symbol is still widely used in India and South Korea, and most weddings, holidays and celebrations are not complete without it.
Swastika in Finland
Since 1918, the swastika has been part of state symbols Finland (now depicted on the presidential standard, as well as on the banners of the armed forces).
Swastika in Poland
IN Polish army the swastika was used in the emblem on the collars of the Podhalyan Riflemen (21st and 22nd Mountain Rifle Divisions
Swastika in Latvia
In Latvia the swastika, which is local tradition had the name “fiery cross”, was the emblem of the air force from 1919 to 1940
Swastika in Germany
- Rudyard Kipling, whose collected works were always decorated with a swastika, ordered it to be removed in the latest edition in order to avoid association with Nazism.
After World War II, the image of the swastika was banned in a number of countries and can be criminalized.
The swastika as an emblem of Nazi and fascist organizations
Even before the Nazis entered the German political arena, the swastika was used as a symbol of German nationalism by various paramilitary organizations. It was worn, in particular, by members of G. Erhardt's troops.
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In the mind of Hitler himself, it symbolized the “struggle for the triumph Aryan race" This choice combined the mystical occult meaning of the swastika, the idea of the swastika as an “Aryan” symbol (due to its prevalence in India), and the already established use of the swastika in the German far-right tradition: it was used by some Austrian anti-Semitic parties, and in March 1920 During the Kapp Putsch, it was depicted on the helmets of the Erhardt brigade that entered Berlin (there may have been Baltic influence here, since many Volunteer Corps soldiers encountered swastikas in Latvia and Finland). In 1923, at the Nazi congress, Hitler reported that the black swastika was a call for a merciless fight against communists and Jews. Already in the 1920s, the swastika became increasingly associated with Nazism; after 1933, it finally began to be perceived as a Nazi symbol par excellence, as a result of which, for example, it was excluded from the emblem of the scout movement.
However, strictly speaking, Nazi symbol there was not just any swastika, but a four-pointed one, with the ends directed towards right side, and rotated by 45°. Moreover, it should be in a white circle, which in turn is depicted on a red rectangle. This very sign was on the state banner of National Socialist Germany in 1933-1945, as well as on the emblems of the civil and military services of this country (although in decorative purposes, of course, other options were used, including by the Nazis).
In 1931-1943, the swastika was on the flag of the Russian Fascist Party, organized by Russian emigrants in Manchukuo (China).
The swastika is currently used by a number of racist organizations
Swastika in transcripts of Soviet teenagers
The acrophonemic convention of the meaning of the Nazi swastika of the Third Reich, widespread in decoding among Soviet children and teenagers from films and stories about the Great Patriotic War (WWII), is the encrypted name of state politicians, leaders and members of the Socialist German Workers' Party in Germany, according to the first letters of the names known in history: Hitler ( German Adolf Hitler), Himmler ( German Heinrich Himmler), Goebbels ( German Joseph Goebbels), Goering ( German Hermann Göring).
Swastika in the USA
No, this is not a fake or a bait with a provocative headline. Here we will literally talk about fascist symbols, literally on the emblem of the Russian civil service.
So, my dear readers, I present to your attention the emblem of the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia
We are interested in the objects that the double-headed eagle holds in its paws, because these are not just objects - they are symbols! Let's ask Wikipedia, what does it tell us about these items?
Let's look here https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_FSSP_Russia and what do we see there?
A golden double-headed eagle with raised wings, crowned with one large and two small crowns. The crowns are connected by a dark green ribbon. In the eagle's right paw there is a silver scroll with a seal, in the left - a silver lictor's bundle. On the eagle's chest is a figured shield with a dark green field. In the field of the shield there is a golden “pillar of the Law”. Well, everything is clear: the “pillar of the Law” is a worthy symbol, a silver scroll, and even with a seal - also quite worthy, a lictor’s bundle... And what is this?
Isn't this the same bun that ancient Roman lictors wore? A bunch of birch twigs tied with a ribbon, symbolizing the lictor's right to enforce decisions by force? So these are fascia, or as I was taught at school fascia!!! The same fascists who became the symbol of a political radical organization Benito Mussolini- Fascio di combattimento - “Union of Struggle” 
The same fascists, thanks to whom, the members of that party began to be called fascists, and everything they did was fascism!
Here people come to you in a graphite-black uniform with fascist symbols on the sleeve... Do you think these are Gestapo men, or some other SS men? No, these are government employees Russian Federation. No, you’re not imagining it! These are not extremists, not neo-Nazis - these are civil servants, they come to you on business, on a serious matter, they are at work. At work, you know?! And with all their appearance they must personify the state. The very same state that, at the cost of tens of millions of ruined lives, through the impossible, through... Which means they, they are the ones who must look appropriate. Vanya Pupkin can drunkenly walk around the city with a swastika. Zigan a couple of times until they punch you in the face. He may have put on this swastika for this reason, so that he could get punched in the face, so that he could serve a day in prison for promoting Nazi symbols, and then tell everyone what a hero he is, how he stood firm against the bloody KGB. But these are in the public service... In a form approved by no less than Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 540 of July 26, 2010.
In accordance with the decisions of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, the criminal organizations included, among others: the National Fascist Party of Italy (Partito Nazionale Fascista), the Fascist Republican Party of Italy (Partito Fascista Republicano) and the previously described Fasci di Combattimento, and the leadership of these organizations was recognized as war criminals. Taking into account the decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunal, the attributes of all of the above organizations can be classified as Nazi (fascist) symbols. And if this is so, then why literally fascist symbols, literally is, literally a symbol of the Russian civil service. Not alone! Here is the emblem of the FSIN, the Federal Penitentiary Service. 
The eagle has the same bunch in its paw... But how should we feel about it? How to understand this, given that we are talking about a state that considers itself an ardent opponent, the antipode of fascism?
One Russian tourist, having visited Southeast Asia, reported in in social networks about your impressions. In Bangkok, he saw a man who had a large swastika on the front and back of his T-shirt.
The tourist's blood rushed to his head. He wanted to immediately explain to the stupid native what kind of disgusting thing he was wearing. But, having cooled down a little, the Russian decided to abstain from communication: maybe local just doesn’t know anything about “German fascism”? Nevertheless, the shock from what he saw was so great that, having returned home, he turned to the forum visitors with the question: “What to do in such a situation?”
Swastikas past and present
Indeed, most Asians do not know who Hitler is. Some may have heard of World War II. But it’s unlikely that even the most educated people. But in India, almost everyone knows well that the swastika is a symbol of prosperity, the sun, a sign of favorable destinies. Not a single wedding in India, Nepal, South Korea cannot do without this symbol.
The swastika appeared in ancient times and was widespread throughout Eurasia. It is an integral part of Buddhism, with which it came to China, Siam and Japan. This symbol is also used by other religions. IN late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, due to the fascination with the culture of the East, the swastika became very popular in Europe.
In the summer of 1917, the Russian Provisional Government even placed a large swastika on the 250-ruble bill, against the backdrop of a double-headed eagle. Some white units placed the swastika on their shoulder straps. The Bolsheviks also did not escape the general trend and used the swastika as a revolutionary symbol.
The seal of the Moscow Provincial Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies of 1919 in the form of a swastika looks especially impressive today. The red sleeve patch of the Red Army soldiers of the South-Eastern Front with a star and swastika is also impressive. In the end, People's Commissar Lunacharsky harshly stopped this “disgrace” in 1922.
Currently, Europeans perceive the swastika only as a symbol of Nazism (the National Socialist Party of Germany) with all its horrors. Today it is difficult to imagine that our distant and not so distant ancestors found something attractive in this symbol, it seems so sinister to us.
The denial of the swastika is firmly ingrained in the consciousness of the majority European peoples. But humanity consists not only of Europeans, and this has to be taken into account, especially when traveling abroad. As they say, you don’t go to someone else’s monastery with your own rules.
Fascia among the Nazis
The symbol of fascism, the fascia, unlike the swastika, is not a sign that causes irritation in the post-Soviet space. And in Europe they treat him very tolerantly. One of the reasons, apparently, lies in the fact that the fascists did not cause as much trouble as the Nazis. At the very least, they were “only” going to conquer other peoples, but not destroy them.
Fasces on the facade of the Central Station, Milan.
Here it is necessary to note the different understanding of the term “fascism” in the former USSR and the rest of the world. On the initiative of I. Stalin, the Comintern (an international association of communist parties under the control of the Soviet leadership) proposed calling the National Socialists “German fascists.” Fascists are members of the Italian radical party created by B. Mussolini.
The fact is that then certain difficulties arose in identifying the enemy. Hitler's party, the NSDAP, was considered both socialist and workers, had a red flag and celebrated the proletarian holiday of May 1. Explaining to not very literate people how Hitler’s socialism differed from Stalin’s was simply an impossible task. But there were no problems with the term “German fascists”. In Soviet Union.
But it did not take root in Europe, despite all the efforts of the Comintern. People there simply did not understand what they were talking about when, instead of the usual word “Nazi,” they heard the long and indigestible “German fascism.” Therefore, European communist parties, in order to be understood by their compatriots, were forced to use the generally accepted term - “Nazi”.
Fascia is a symbol of power in Ancient Rome
The term “fascism” itself comes from the word “fascia”. Fascia was a symbol of power in Ancient Rome. It was a bundle of birch twigs into which an ax was stuck. Fasces were worn by lictors - accompanying persons and at the same time guards of high-ranking officials.
Lictor with fasces
Later, in heraldry, fasces became a symbol of state and national unity, a symbol of the defense of the state. This symbol is still widely used today. Fascia is present in the symbolism of Russian federal services execution of punishments and bailiffs. It is also on the emblem of the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency Situations. And in the coat of arms of France, the fascia is even a central element.
Mussolini used the fascia on the banner of the fascist party as a symbol of the unity of the state and the people, of all levels of society - from the rich and noble to the poorest. In general, something similar to the well-known slogan “The people and the party are united.”
Of course, one cannot call all structures, and especially states, fascist because of the presence of fasces on their banners and coats of arms. Fascia was luckier than the swastika. - She doesn’t cause such rejection. Although in Moscow from 1997 to 2002 there was a law providing for punishment for promoting fascia.
Red Star
Very popular symbol is a red star. After October revolution, when the question arose about the symbolism of the Red Army, they settled on a five-pointed red star. The Red Star in May 1918 was officially, by order of Trotsky, declared the emblem of the Red Army. In this order she was called “the star of Mars with a plow and a hammer.”
The god of war, Mars, in the then Soviet tradition was considered the protector of peaceful labor. After some time the plow was replaced with a sickle. The red star emblem was worn on the chest. But later they began to wear the star on hats, instead of a cockade.
The five-pointed star (pentacle, pentagram) has been known for almost 6000 years. She was a symbol of safety and protection from all kinds of adversity. The pentagram was used by different religions and peoples. But during the Inquisition, the attitude towards the pentagram in Europe changed radically, and it began to be called “the witch’s foot.” Later it was clarified that the symbol of Satan is only an inverted star - when one ray is directed downward, and two rays looking up form, as it were, horns.
And a star “standing on two legs” is quite pleasing to God. The “flaming” pentagram, with tongues of flame between the rays of the star, is one of the main symbols of the Freemasons. Already with early XIX centuries, stars “climbed” onto epaulettes and shoulder straps.
The stars on the American flag were originally eight-pointed. But under the influence of local Masons they were very quickly replaced with five-pointed ones. The US military, like its Soviet counterparts, uses the pentacle to represent nationality military equipment.
"George Ribbon"
IN Lately the red star, the only symbol of the Soviet army and its victories, now has a competitor - the orange and black “St. George’s ribbon”. For all its visual attractiveness and even similarity to the St. George Ribbon, it is inappropriate to call it that. On the real St. George's ribbon there are three black and two yellow stripes, which symbolize the three deaths and two resurrections of St. George the Victorious.
From 1917 until 1992, the St. George ribbon was not used in any Soviet awards. But she was involved in the White Army and the Russian Corps, which fought on the side of Hitler. A person with such a ribbon, who fell into the hands of the NKVD or Smersh during the war, would, at best, be sent to a concentration camp. The current “St. George’s ribbon” repeats the colors of the blocks of the Order of Glory and the medal “For Victory over Germany” and in no way relates to the life and death of St. George the Victorious.
In any case, the Russians liked the ribbon and are perceived today as a symbol of the Great Patriotic War. She is perceived the same way in Belarus. But in Ukraine the perception of this symbol is ambiguous.
People who are nostalgic for the USSR, although they claim that it is a symbol of the past war, still perceive the ribbon as a symbol of the Soviet past. Another part of the population has a very negative attitude towards the ribbon, considering it an element of “imperial” propaganda, along with other Soviet symbols.
Anatoly PONOMARENKO
"Secrets of the 20th century"
The urban legend of the Soviet pioneers said that the swastika was the four letters G gathered in a circle: Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, Himmler. The children did not think that the German Gs are actually different letters - H and G. Although the number of leading Nazis on G really went off scale - you can also remember Grohe, and Hess, and many others. But it's better not to remember.
The German Nazis used this sign even before Hitler came to power. And why they showed such interest in the swastika is not at all surprising: for them it was an object of mystical power that came from India, from the original Aryan territories. Well, it also looked beautiful, and the leaders of the national socialist movement always attached great importance to issues of aesthetics.
Statue Indian elephant with a swastika on the site of the old Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen. The statue has nothing to do with Nazism: pay attention to the dots near the center
If we consider the swastika not as part of patterns and designs, but as an independent object, then its first appearance dates back to approximately the 6th-5th centuries BC. It can be seen on objects found in excavations in the Middle East. Why is it customary to call India the birthplace of the swastika? Because the word “swastika” itself is taken from Sanskrit (a literary ancient Indian language), means “well-being”, and purely graphically (according to the most common theory) symbolizes the Sun. Four-pointedness is far from necessary for it; there is also a great variety of angles of rotation, inclination of rays and additional patterns. In classical Hindu form, she is usually depicted as in the picture below.
There are many interpretations of which direction the swastika should rotate. There is even discussion of dividing them into female and male, depending on the direction
Due to the high popularity of the Sun among people of all races, it is logical that the swastika is an element of symbolism, writing and graphics among hundreds and hundreds of ancient peoples scattered throughout the planet. Even in Christianity it has found its place, and there is an opinion that the Christian cross is its direct descendant. Family traits are really easy to discern. In our dear Orthodoxy, swastika-like elements were called “gammatic cross” and were often used in the design of temples. True, now it is not so easy to detect their traces in Russia, since after the start of the Great Patriotic War even harmless Orthodox swastikas were eliminated.
Orthodox gamma cross
The swastika is such a widespread object of world culture and religion that what is rather surprising is the rarity of its appearance in the modern world. Logically, she should follow us everywhere. The answer is really simple: after the collapse of the Third Reich, it began to evoke such unpleasant associations that they got rid of it with unprecedented zeal. This is amusingly reminiscent of the story of the name Adolf, which was extremely popular in Germany at all times, but almost disappeared from use after 1945.
Craftsmen have gotten used to finding swastikas in the most unexpected places. With the appearance in open access space images of the Earth, the search for natural and architectural incidents has turned into a kind of sport. The most popular site for conspiracy theorists and swastikophiles is the naval base building in San Diego, California, designed in 1967.
The US Navy spent $600 thousand to somehow rid this building of its resemblance to a swastika, but the final result is disappointing
The Russian Internet and some station stalls are filled with all sorts of interpreters of Slavic pagan swastikas, where they meticulously explain in pictures what “yarovrat”, “svitovit” or “posolon” means. It sounds and looks exciting, but keep in mind that there is no trace of any scientific basis behind these myths. Even the term “Kolovrat”, which has come into use, supposedly the Slavic name for the swastika, is the product of speculation and myth-making.
A beautiful example of rich Slavophile fantasy. Pay special attention to the name of the first swastika on the second page
Outlandish mystical powers attributed to the swastika, hence the interest in it from people who are suspicious, superstitious or prone to the occult. Does it bring happiness to the wearer? Think about it: Hitler used it both in the tail and in the mane, and ended up so badly that you wouldn’t wish it on your enemy.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was a big fan of swastikas. She drew the symbol everywhere she could reach with pencils and paints, especially in her children’s rooms, so that they would grow up healthy and not worry about anything. But the empress was shot by the Bolsheviks along with her entire family. The conclusions are obvious.
Half a century has passed since the end of the Second World War, but the two letters SS (more precisely, of course, SS) are still synonymous for most with horror and terror. Thanks to the mass production of Hollywood and the Soviet film factories that tried to keep up with it, almost all of us are familiar with the uniforms of the SS men and their emblem with a death's head. But true story SS is much more complex and multifaceted. In it one can find heroism and cruelty, nobility and meanness, selflessness and intrigue, deep scientific interests and a passionate craving for the ancient knowledge of distant ancestors.
The head of the SS, Himmler, who sincerely believed that the Saxon king Henry I “Birdcatcher”, the founder of the First Reich, elected in 919 as king of all Germans, was spiritually reincarnated in him. In one of his speeches in 1943 he said:
“Our order will enter the future as a union of the elite, uniting the German people and all of Europe around itself. It will give the world leaders of industry, Agriculture, as well as political and spiritual leaders. We will always obey the law of elitism, choosing the superior and discarding the inferior. If we cease to follow this fundamental rule, we thereby condemn ourselves to and disappear from the face of the earth like any other human organization."
His dreams, as we know, were not destined to come true for completely different reasons. WITH youth Himmler showed an increased interest in “the ancient heritage of our ancestors.” Associated with the Thule Society, he was fascinated by the pagan culture of the Germans and dreamed of its revival - of the time when it would replace the “foul-smelling Christianity.” In the intellectual depths of the SS, a new “moral” was being developed, based on pagan ideas.
Himmler considered himself the founder of a new pagan order that was “destined to change the course of history,” to carry out a “cleansing of the rubbish accumulated over millennia” and return humanity to “the path prepared by Providence.” In connection with such grandiose plans for a “return,” it is not surprising that the ancient . On the uniforms of the SS men they were distinguished, testifying to the elitism and sense of camaraderie that reigns in the organization. Since 1939, they went to war singing a hymn that included the following line: "We are all ready for battle, we are inspired by the runes and the death's head."
According to the Reichsführer SS, the runes were to play a special role in the symbolism of the SS: on his personal initiative, within the framework of the Ahnenerbe program - the Society for the Study and Dissemination cultural heritage ancestors" - the Institute of Runic Writing was established. Until 1940, all recruits of the SS Order underwent mandatory instruction regarding runic symbolism. By 1945, 14 main runic symbols were used in the SS. The word "rune" means "secret script". Runes represent the basis alphabets carved on stone, metal and bone, and which became widespread mainly in pre-Christian times Northern Europe among the ancient Germanic tribes.
"...The great gods - Odin, Ve and Willi carved a man from an ash tree and a woman from a willow. The eldest of Bor's children, Odin, breathed soul into people and gave life. To give them new knowledge, Odin went to Utgard, the Land of Evil , to the World Tree. There he tore out his eye and brought it to, but this was not enough for the Guardians of the Tree. Then he decided to die in order to be resurrected. For nine days he hung on a branch, pierced by a spear. Each of the eight nights of Initiation revealed new ones to him. the secrets of existence. On the ninth morning, Odin saw rune-letters inscribed on the stone under him. His mother’s father, the giant Belthorn, taught him to carve and paint runes, and from then on the World Tree began to be called Yggdrasil..."
This is how the Snorrian Edda (1222-1225) talks about the acquisition of runes by the ancient Germans, perhaps the only complete overview heroic epic ancient Germans, based on legends, prophecies, spells, sayings, cults and rituals of the Germanic tribes. In the Edda, Odin was revered as the god of war and the patron of the dead heroes of Valhalla. He was also considered a necromancer.
The famous Roman historian Tacitus, in his book “Germania” (98 BC), described in detail how the Germans were engaged in predicting the future using runes.
Each rune had a name and magical meaning that went beyond purely linguistic boundaries. The design and composition changed over time and acquired magical significance in Teutonic astrology. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The runes were remembered by various “folkish” (folk) groups that spread in Northern Europe. Among them was the Thule Society, which played a significant role in the early days of the Nazi movement.
Hakenkreutz
SWASTIKA is the Sanskrit name for the sign depicting a hook cross (among the ancient Greeks this sign, which became known to them from the peoples of Asia Minor, was called “tetraskele” - “four-legged”, “spider”). This sign was associated with the cult of the Sun among many peoples and is found already in the era Upper Paleolithic and even more often - in the Neolithic era, first of all in Asia (according to other sources, the oldest image of the swastika was discovered in Transylvania, it dates back to the late Stone Age; the swastika was also found in the ruins of the legendary Troy, this bronze age). Already from the 7th-6th centuries BC. e. it enters into symbolism, where it signifies the secret doctrine of the Buddha. The swastika is reproduced on the oldest coins of India and Iran (BC penetrates from there to); in Central America it is also known among the peoples as a sign indicating the circulation of the Sun. In Europe, the spread of this sign dates back to a relatively late time - the Bronze and Iron Ages. During the era of migration of peoples, he penetrates through the Finno-Ugric tribes to the north of Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic, and becomes one of the supreme Scandinavian god Odin (Wotan in German mythology), who suppressed and absorbed the previous solar (solar) cults. Thus, the swastika, as one of the varieties of the image of the solar circle, was practically found in all parts of the world, as a solar sign served as an indication of the direction of rotation of the Sun (from left to right) and was also used as a sign of well-being, “turning away from the left side.”
It was precisely because of this that the ancient Greeks, who learned about this sign from the peoples of Asia Minor, changed the turn of their “spider” to the left and at the same time changed its meaning, turning it into a sign of evil, decline, death, since for them it was “alien” . Since the Middle Ages, the swastika was completely forgotten and was only occasionally found as a purely ornamental motif without any meaning or significance.
Only at the very end of the 19th century, probably on the basis of the erroneous and hasty conclusion of some German archaeologists and ethnographers, that the swastika sign could be an indicator for determining Aryan peoples, since it is allegedly found only among them, in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century they began to use the swastika as an anti-Semitic sign (for the first time in 1910), although later, at the end of the 20s, the works of English and Danish archaeologists were published who discovered the swastika not only in territories inhabited by Semitic peoples (in Mesopotamia and Palestine), but also directly on Hebrew sarcophagi.
For the first time, the swastika was used as a political sign-symbol on March 10-13, 1920 on the helmets of militants of the so-called “Erhard Brigade”, which formed the core of the “Volunteer Corps” - a monarchical paramilitary organization under the leadership of generals Ludendorff, Seeckt and Lützow, who carried out the Kapp putsch - counter-revolutionary a coup that installed the landowner W. Kapp as “premier” in Berlin. Although the Social Democratic government of Bauer fled ignominiously, the Kapp putsch was liquidated in five days by the 100,000-strong German Army created under the leadership of the German Communist Party. The authority of militaristic circles was then greatly undermined, and from that time on the swastika symbol began to mean a sign of right-wing extremism. Since 1923, on the eve of Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich, the swastika has become the official emblem of Hitler’s fascist party, and since September 1935 - the main state emblem of Hitler’s Germany, included in its coat of arms and flag, as well as in the emblem of the Wehrmacht - an eagle holding in its claws wreath with swastika.
Only a swastika standing on an edge at 45°, with the ends directed to the right, can fit the definition of “Nazi” symbols. This very sign was on the state banner of National Socialist Germany from 1933 to 1945, as well as on the emblems of the civil and military services of this country. It is also advisable to call it not “swastika”, but Hakenkreuz, as the Nazis themselves did. The most accurate reference books consistently distinguish between Hakenkreuz (" Nazi swastika") and traditional types of swastikas in Asia and America, which stand on the surface at an angle of 90°.
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Symbols of the Third Reich
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Half a century has passed since the end of the Second World War, but the two letters SS (more precisely, of course, SS) are still synonymous for most with horror and terror. Thanks to the mass production of Hollywood and the Soviet film factories that tried to keep up with it, almost all of us are familiar with the black uniforms of the SS men and their emblem with a death's head. But the actual history of the SS is significantly...
