The Swastika - A potted history

When you see a swastika you tend to assiciate it with Nazi Germany, but perhaps you shouldn't. The swastika had been around for thousands of years before the Nazi's 'borrowed' it.

The swastika has been used in India and Asia for thousands of years, and found its way to some surprising places:

• The ancient city of Troy, in the northwest of present-day Turkey.
• The Iron Age Koban culture of the Caucasus in Asia minor.
• On prehistoric Vinca artefacts from South-Eastern Europe.
• Amongst the ancient Hittites who lived in the area of present day Syria.
• In Ein Gedi, near Israel's Dead Sea.
• In the Tang Dynasty of China.
• In the 13th Century Amiens Cathedral in France.
• In ancient Greek architectural designs.
• On Native American Indian artefacts including those of the Navajo and Hopi.
• On pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon and Druidic artefacts.

The swastika was also used widely in the pre-Nazi twentieth century:

• Dust-covers of books by Rudyard Kipling and other authors.
• Boy Scouts' badges in Britain from 1911 to 1922.
• Bank notes printed by the 1917 Russian Provisional Government.
• Emblem of the British National War Savings Committee.
• Planes of the Finnish Air force and Army from 1918 until 1944.
• Latvian Air Force, 1918 until 1934.
• The Icelandic Steamship Company, Eimskip, from 1914.
• The Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875.