A ‘swastika’ is normally taken to refer to an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, which appears either right-facing ( ) or in its mirrored left-facing ( ) form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period. As an ancient symbol, the swastika occurs mainly in the cultures that reside in modern day India and the surrounding area, sometimes as a geometrical motif (as in the Roman Republic and Empire) and sometimes as a religious symbol. It has long been widely used as a sacred symbol in world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism (see insert), and Mithraism. The major religions, with a total of more than a billion adherents worldwide, make the swastika universally found in both historical and contemporary society.

Etymology.

The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit word svastik meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of su-, meaning "good, well" and asti, a verbal abstract to the root as "to be". Svasti thus means "well-being." The suffix -ka intensifies the verbal meaning or confers the sense of 'beneficial', and svastika might thus be translated literally as "that which is associated with well-being," corresponding to "lucky charm" or "thing that is auspicious."[1] The Hindu Sanskrit term has been in use in English since 1871, with alternative historical spellings including suastika, swastica and svastica.

The swastika symbol also has an ancient history in Europe appearing on artifacts from many pre-Christian European cultures. The Indo-Aryans, Persians, Hittites, Slavs, Celts and Greeks, among others, extensively used it as a decorative symbol. In more modern times, the swastika experienced a resurgence in the Western world following the archaeological work in the late 19th century of Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the symbol in the site of ancient Troy. Following his discovery, and after consulting two leading Sanskrit scholars of the day, Emile Burnouf and Max Müller, Schliemann concluded that the Swastika was a specifically Indo-European symbol. Later discoveries of the motif among the remains of the Hittites and of ancient Iran seemed to confirm this theory and thereafter associated the symbol with the ancient migrations of Proto-Indo-Europeans. Schliemann also connected it with similar shapes found on ancient pots in Germany, and theorized that the swastika was a "significant religious symbol of our remote ancestors", linking Germanic, Greek and Indo-Iranian cultures.[1][2]

By the early 20th century, these discoveries, and the new popularity of the swastika symbol, had led to a widespread desire to ascribe symbolic significance to every example of the motif. In many European countries, examples of identical shapes in ancient European artifacts and in folk art were interpreted as emblems of good-luck and success linked to the Indo-Iranian meaning. Schliemann’s work, however, soon became intertwined with the völkisch[3] movements, for which the swastika was a symbol of "Aryan" identity - a concept that became equated by theorists such as Alfred Rosenberg with a Nordic master race originating in northern Europe. Western use of the symbol, along with the attached religious and cultural meanings, was subverted after its adoption as the emblem of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Nazi Party). With its conveniently-geometrical and eye-catching simplicity, the swastika was highly effective for associating Nazism with the Aryans as the historical forefathers of modern Germans and instilling racial pride. It well worth remembering that many Roman symbols were co-opted by the Nazis to blatantly associate the ‘Reich’ with ancient Rome as its imperial forebear. One need only look at the flags (vexillae), eagles (aquilae) and fasces on display in parades (e.g. Nuremburg and Munich) and on all government buildings to see the obvious parallels. Since then, of course, the swastika is almost exclusively associated in much of the West with Nazism, fascism, white supremacy and racism, the Axis powers in World War II, and the Holocaust.

Today, the version of the swastika above right remains a core symbol of Neo-Nazi groups. How sad then that its original use as a ‘lucky charm’ has been so thoroughly corrupted. Perhaps it is high time that we, as historians, experimental archaeologists and Roman enthusiasts, begin the process of educating future generations to accept the swastika without prejudice and for what it has always represented…Time, perhaps, to reclaim one ancient Roman symbol - Good Luck!

Endnotes:

1. Schliemann, H. (1875), Troy and its remains, Murray, London, pp. 102, 119-20.
2. Boxer, S. (2000), "One of the world's great symbols strives for a comeback", The New York Times, July 29.
3. The German interpretation of the populist movement, with a romantic focus on folklore and the "organic".