Essay On Swastika

To many people, the swastika represents the Nazis and the many other terrible events which occurred throughout World War II, but it had been used in other religions, cultures, and had various meanings before Hitler turned it into a symbol of destruction and sorrow. The swastika originated in religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism in India, though it was only minimally used in Buddhism. It had been an important symbol in Hinduism, used in festivals and religious rites for various reasons. In Buddhism, the swastika had represented eternity. It had also been mostly used in Asia through Jainism. The swastika was used in Greece through architecture, clothing, and coin design. Greco-Roman art and architecture included many connected swastika-like images as well. In Russia, the swastika had represented the Christian Slavic faith. Not only had the swastika been used in those religions and countries, but it had also been used in Finland for decoration and a military

However, it was used a lot differently in Greece than it was in India. In Greece, the swastika had mostly been imprinted on coins made of silver and different cheaper metals. The swastika in Greece had gone by the name of gammadion. Priestesses from Ancient Greece had tattooed the gammadion, or swastika, on their bodies, whether it was a single swastika, or multiple linked ones. Greco-Roman swastikas were found all over art and architecture. In this time, swastika were very rarely found by themselves. There would often be multiple swastikas with various other patterns and lines in between. It could also commonly be found bordering images and other art. To the Greeks and Romans, the swastika had represented perpetual motion, and was frequently rotated to imitate a wind or water mill. Borders and tessellations made of the symbol where found on the floors of cathedrals and could also be found in many more recent buildings as