Western use of the Swastika in the early 20th century

The swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

(from Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

svástika) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing (卐) form or its mirrored left-facing (卍) form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

period and was first found in the Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...

of the Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

. The swastika

Swastika

The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

(gammadion, "fylfot

Fylfot

Fylfot or fylfot cross , is a synonym for swastika, sometimes used in Britain.However – at least in modern heraldry texts, such as Friar and Woodcock & Robinson – the fylfot differs somewhat from the archetypal form of the swastika: always upright and typically with truncated limbs, as...

") symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

became a popular symbol of luck in the Western world

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

in the early 20th century. Although the Nazi Party adopted the symbol in the 1920s, it continued in use in Western countries with its original meaning until the Nazi association became dominant in the 1930s. The term swastika is first attested in English in 1871, and first refers to the Nazi emblem in 1932.

Background

The discovery of the Indo-European language

Indo-European languages

The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...

group in the 1790s led to a great effort by archaeologists to link the pre-history of European peoples to the ancient "Aryan

Aryan

Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...

s" (variously referring to the Indo-Iranians

Indo-Iranians

Indo-Iranian peoples are a linguistic group consisting of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples; that is, speakers of Indo-Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family....

or the Proto-Indo-Europeans

Proto-Indo-Europeans

The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language , a reconstructed prehistoric language of Eurasia.Knowledge of them comes chiefly from the linguistic reconstruction, along with material evidence from archaeology and archaeogenetics...

).
Following his discovery of objects bearing the swastika in the ruins of Troy

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

, Heinrich Schliemann

Heinrich Schliemann

Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and amateur archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns...

consulted two leading Sanskrit

Sanskrit

scholars of the day, Emile Burnouf

Emile Burnouf

Émile-Louis Burnouf was a leading nineteenth-century Orientalist and racialist whose ideas influenced the development of theosophy and Aryanism. He was a professor at the faculté de lettres at Nancy University, then principal of the French School at Athens from 1867 to 1875...

and Max Müller

Max Müller

Friedrich Max Müller , more regularly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion...

. Schliemann concluded that the Swastika was a specifically Indo-European symbol, and associated it with the ancient migrations of Proto-Indo-Europeans. He 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. Later discoveries of the motif among the remains of the Hittites and of ancient Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

seemed to confirm this theory, but the symbol was also known for its use by indigenous American Indians as well as Eastern cultures.

These discoveries, and the new popularity of the swastika symbol, led to a widespread desire to ascribe symbolic significance to every example of the motif. In Germanic

Germanic peoples

The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...

countries examples of identical shapes in ancient European artifacts and in folk art were interpreted as emblems of good-luck linked by academics to the Indo-Iranian meaning. By the early 20th century it was widely used worldwide and was regarded as a symbol of good luck.

The swastika's world wide use was well documented in a 1894 publication by the Smithsonian. The symbol appeared in many popular, non-political Western designs from the 1880s to the 1920s, with occasional use continuing into the 1930s.

Western use of the motif, along with the religious and cultural meanings attached to it, was subverted in the early 20th century after it was adopted as the emblem of the Nazi Party . This association occurred because Nazism stated that the historical Aryans were the forefathers of modern Germans and then proposed that, because of this, the subjugation of the world by Germany was desirable, and even predestined. The swastika was used as a conveniently geometrical and eye-catching symbol to emphasize the so-called Aryan-German correspondence and instill racial pride. Since World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, most Westerners

Western world

have known the swastika as solely a Nazi symbol, leading to incorrect assumptions about its pre-Nazi use in the West and confusion about its sacred religious and historical status in other cultures.

Argentina

Several columns at the train station of Retiro in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

are decorated with joint swastikas. The Estación Retiro

Estación Retiro

Retiro Station is a large railway terminus in the Buenos Aires central business district in Argentina, located in the district of Retiro, opposite Plaza San Martín, a large public square....

opened in 1915.

Australia

Sydney has two notable buildings using the swastika as an architectural element. The 1920s-era Dymocks Building in George Street, Sydney includes a multi-level shopping arcade, the tiled floors of which incorporate numerous left-facing swastikas. A brass explanatory sign, probably dating to World War 2, is affixed to the wall near the elevator doors on each floor of the building, and refers to it as a "fylfot", emphasising that its use in the building pre-dates any Nazi connotations or usage. In nearby Circular Quay, the Customs House

Customs House, Sydney

The Customs House is an historic Sydney landmark located in the city's Circular Quay area. Constructed initially in 1844-1845, the building served as the headquarters of the Customs Service until 1990. Ownership was then transferred from the Commonwealth Government of Australia to the City of...

also has swastika tiles in the front entrance area dating from the same period, with a plaque to explain the symbols.

Canada

Swastika

Swastika, Ontario

Swastika is a small community founded in 1908 around a mining site in Northern Ontario, Canada, and today within the municipal boundaries of Kirkland Lake, Ontario....

is the name of a small residential community in northern

Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, approximately 580 kilometres north of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, and 5 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake, the town of which it is now part. The town of Swastika was founded in 1906. Gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

was discovered nearby and the Swastika Mining Company was formed in 1908. The government of Ontario attempted to change the town's name during World War II, but the town resisted and many posted signs "The hell with Hitler. We came up with our name first!". The Swastika United Church is located in Swastika, Ontario

Swastika, Ontario

Swastika is a small community founded in 1908 around a mining site in Northern Ontario, Canada, and today within the municipal boundaries of Kirkland Lake, Ontario....

, as is the Swastika Public School, Swastika Fire Hall and Swastika Laboratories, which provides assaying services

Assay

An assay is a procedure in molecular biology for testing or measuring the activity of a drug or biochemical in an organism or organic sample. A quantitative assay may also measure the amount of a substance in a sample. Bioassays and immunoassays are among the many varieties of specialized...

for the mining industry. The town celebrated its 100th anniversary in June 2008.

In Windsor

Windsor, Nova Scotia

Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, there was the Windsor Swastikas

Windsor Swastikas

The Windsor Swastikas were a Canadian ice hockey team in Windsor, Nova Scotia, from 1905–1916. Not to be confused with the Fernie Swastikas across the country in British Columbia, the Swastikas chose their name as at the time the swastika was a symbol associated with luck and success.-Team...

ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

team from 1905 to 1916, and their uniforms featured swastika symbols. There were also hockey teams named the Swastikas in Edmonton, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

(circa 1916), and the Fernie Swastikas

Fernie Swastikas

The Fernie Swastikas were a women's hockey team that was formed in 1922 in Fernie, British Columbia. Their uniform used as a symbol the swastika, which before World War II was a common religious symbol, and especially a sun sign. In 1923, the Swastikas won the Alpine Cup at the Banff Winter...

in Fernie

Fernie, British Columbia

Fernie is a city in the Elk Valley area of the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located on BC Highway 3 on the eastern approaches to the Crowsnest Pass through the Rocky Mountains...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

(circa 1922).

The Traveller's Hotel in downtown Ladysmith, British Columbia

Ladysmith, British Columbia

Ladysmith is a town located on the 49th parallel on the east coast of Vancouver Island British Columbia, Canada. The local economy is based on forestry, tourism and agriculture. A hillside location adjacent to a sheltered harbour form the natural characteristics of the community., the population...

, has a façade decorated with brickwork swastikas. Further north on Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

, the Japanese cemetery in Cumberland

Cumberland, British Columbia

Cumberland is a town in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.-History:The village was originally named Union, British Columbia after the Union Coal Company, which was in turn named in honour of the 1871 union of British Columbia with Canada. The town was renamed after...

has several grave markers decorated with swastikas.

A repeating pattern of swastikas appeared on a few Canadian postage stamps that were produced by commercial airlines from 1924-32.

There used to be a swastika brick pattern located outside at the top of a house located at 75-81 Troy Street, in Verdun, a borough of Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. A picture of this house appears on page 138 of Hélène-Andrée Bizier's Une Histoire du Québec en photos (2006, Éditions Fides).

The swastika was also used as border art for the weekly pet health column in the Calgary Herald
Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...

newspaper in the early years of the 20th Century.

Denmark

In the first part of the 20th century, the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

brewery Carlsberg had a swastika as its logo. Today the swastika is still visible on one of the elephants by the brewery's gate.

Finland

Grand Cross with star of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, note the swastika also in the star Presidential Standard of Finland

In Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

the swastika was used as the official national marking of the Finnish Defence Forces

Finnish Defence Forces

The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the defence of Finland. It is a cadre army of 15,000, of which 8,900 are professional soldiers , extended with conscripts and reservists such that the standard readiness strength is 34,700 people in uniform...

between 1918 and 1945 and also of the Finnish Air Force

Finnish Air Force

The Finnish Air Force is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions...

, anti-aircraft troops as a part of the air force and tank troops at that time. The swastika was also used by the Lotta Svärd

Lotta Svärd

Lotta Svärd was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. During the Finnish Civil War it was associated with the Suojeluskunta. After the war Lotta Svärd was founded as a separate organisation on September 9, 1920. The name comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg...

organisation, Finnish paramilitary organization for women, which was dissolved in 1944 according to the terms of the Moscow Armistice

Moscow Armistice

The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...

Blue swastika insignia of the Finnish Air Force 1918–1945

Emblem of the Finnish Air Force and the Finnish flight mark 1918-1945

Present-day flag (from 1958) of the Training Air Wing Training Air Wing, Finnish Air Force The Training Air Wing is the Finnish Air Force pilot jet aircraft training school. It is located at Kauhava Airport in Kauhava, in Southern Ostrobothnia. The unit trains pilots for the Finnish Defence Forces, as well as for the Finnish Border Guard.... even with three swastikas: on center and top left corner (the unit insignia) as well as the Cross of Liberty in the head of the flagpole

Present-day flags (from 1958) of the Karelian Karelian Air Command The Karelian Air Command is the peace-time Finnish Air Force unit, responsible for the protection of the airspace of eastern and southeastern Finland... , Lapland Lapland Air Command The Lapland Air Command is the peace-time Finnish Air Force unit, responsible for the protection of the airspace of northern Finland. The headquarters of the air command is located in the present-day province of Lapland, at the airport of Rovaniemi.... and Satakunta Air Command Satakunta Air Command The Satakunta Air Command is the peace-time Finnish Air Force unit, responsible for the protection of the airspace of western and western part of southern Finland... s with a black swastika

The Finnish Airforce units still wear a swastika on their colours

Colours, standards and guidons

In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards or Guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago...

. In addition, the shoulder insignia of the Airforce Headquarters bears a swastika design. In 1945 the Air Force changed its national emblem to a roundel but the use of swastika in some other insignia was continued. In 1958, the President of Finland

President of Finland

The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....

Urho Kekkonen

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen , was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland and later as the eighth President of Finland . Kekkonen continued the “active neutrality” policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, a doctrine which came to be known as the “Paasikivi–Kekkonen...

inaugurated the colours of the Air Force units which feature a swastika design. The latest colour of this pattern was inaugurated by president Tarja Halonen

Tarja Halonen

Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...

25 October 2005 for the newly formed Air Force Academy

Air Force Academy, Finnish Air Force

The Air Force Academy is located at Tikkakoski in Jyväskylä, Finland. It is a Finnish Air Force pilot training school, which gives initial pilot training for conscripts of the Finnish Air Force. The pilots fly Vinka aircraft and training is provided by the Patria Aviation company...

. Also the Utti Jaeger Regiment

Utti Jaeger Regiment

The Utti Jaeger Regiment is the Finnish Army training and development centre for special forces and helicopter operations. It consists of about 500 personnel of which about 200 are conscripts.-Organisation:...

, responsible for training special forces, bears a swastika - like emblem on its colour.

The swastika has not disappeared in Finnish medals and decorations. The decorations of the Order of the Cross of Liberty

Order of the Cross of Liberty

There are three official orders in Finland: the Order of the Cross of Liberty , the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of the two orders, and usually of the Order of the Cross of Liberty as well, Grand Mastership of...

, designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic . His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity...

- he also designed the emblem of the Finnish Air Force and the Finnish flight mark in 1918 -, bears a swastika laid on a George's Cross. The President of Finland uses a Cross of Liberty in the personal flag. However, in the flag is only the Cross of Liberty of 3rd Class and overall, the highest Finnish decoration is the Grand Cross of the White Rose with Collar.

Germany

Proto-nazi movements such as the Freikorps

Freikorps

Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...

used the symbol as well. For example, the Bundesarchiv has photos from the Kapp Putsch

Kapp Putsch

The Kapp Putsch — or more accurately the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch — was a 1920 coup attempt during the German Revolution of 1918–1919 aimed at overthrowing the Weimar Republic...

labeled with the name of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt

Marinebrigade Ehrhardt

The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt was a Free Corps group of around 6,000 men formed by Captain Hermann Ehrhardt in the aftermath of World War I, also known as II Marine Brigade or the Ehrhardt Brigade...

freikorp.

Iceland

The Icelandic Steamship Company, Eimskip (founded in 1914) used a swastika in its logo.

India

The Swastika is an extremely popular religious symbol in India, used as a good luck symbol. It is very common in modern day Indian culture, sometimes as a geometrical motif and sometimes as a religious symbol. It also remains widely used in Eastern/Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

Ireland

In Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, a laundry company known as the Swastika Laundry
Swastika Laundry
The Swastika Laundry was a laundry founded in 1912, located on Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, a district of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by John W. Brittain from Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim who was one of the “pioneers of the laundry business in Ireland” having founded the Metropolitan and White...

existed for many years in Dartry

Dartry

Dartry is a suburb of Dublin. Among the locations in Dartry are Dartry Road, Temple Road, Orwell Park, and Palmerston Park.-Dartry Road:In the part of Dartry Road between Palmerston Park and Temple Road is located Trinity Hall, the most prominent student residence for students of the University of...

and Ballsbridge

Ballsbridge

Ballsbridge is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, named for the bridge spanning the River Dodder on the south side of the city. The sign on the bridge still proclaims it as "Ball's Bridge" in recognition of the fact that the original bridge in this location was built and owned by a Mr...

(both on the river Dodder

River Dodder

The River Dodder is one of the three main rivers of the Dublin region in Ireland, the others being the Liffey, of which the Dodder is the largest tributary, and the Tolka.-Course and system:...

) on the south side of the city. It was founded in 1888 as the Dublin Laundry Company. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the company's customers were concerned about the company's name. Accordingly, it was changed to "Swastika Laundry (1912) Ltd". The company's fleet of electric delivery vans were red, and featured a black swastika on a white background.

The business started in the early 20th century and continued up until recent times. The Laundry's tall chimneystack was emblazoned with a large white Swastika, a protected structure, which was clearly visible from the surrounding streets. The name and logo eventually disappeared when the laundry was absorbed into the Spring Grove company.

In his "Irisches Tagebuch" the future Nobel Laureate, Heinrich Böll

Heinrich Böll

Heinrich Theodor Böll was one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers. Böll was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1967 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.- Biography :...

writes about a year spent living in the west of Ireland in the 1950s. While in Dublin before heading to Co. Mayo, he…

"was almost run over by a bright-red panel truck whose sole decoration was a big swastika. Had someone sold Völkischer Beobachter
Völkischer Beobachter
The Völkischer Beobachter was the newspaper of the National Socialist German Workers' Party from 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from February 8, 1923...

delivery trucks here, or did the Völkischer Beobachter still have a branch office here? This one looked exactly like those I remembered; but the driver crossed himself as he smilingly signalled to me to proceed, and on closer inspection I saw what had happened. It was simply the "Swastika Laundry", which had painted the year of its founding, 1912, clearly beneath the swastika; but the mere possibility that it might have been one of those others was enough to take my breath away."

Latvia

In Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, too, the swastika (known as Fire Cross, , or Thunder Cross) was used as the marking of the Latvian Air Force

Latvian Air Force

Latvian Air Force is the aviation branch of the National Armed Forces. The first Air Force units were established 1992. It has no air combat capability, thus the defense of Latvian air space is maintained by NATO, with rotating detachments of four aircraft to Lithuania at four-monthly intervals...

between 1918 and 1934, as well as in insignias of some military units. It was also used as a symbol by the Latvian fascist

Fascism

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

movement Pērkonkrusts

Perkonkrusts

Pērkonkrusts , was a Latvian political party founded in the 1930s. This group adapted fascist ideology to the situation in independent Latvia after 1918. It was the largest and longest-lived organisation of its kind in Latvia...

, as well as by other organizations.

Latvian left-facing swastika or Thunder Cross dates back to Bronze Age. It is widely seen scratched on the surfaces like rocks, weapons and pottery as a protector sign. To avoid diplomatic embarrassment, Latvian officials were asked by NATO not to put swastikas on mittens and other gifts to delegates at a summit in the country in 2006.

Norway

The iron gate of Oslo lysverker from 1931, right beside the Nobel Institute in Oslo, is decorated with several swastikas.

The iron balconies of the building facing Veiten in Bergen are also decorated with swastikas. One may think they date back from the war, as they face the old Gestapo headquarters in Bergen, but they are actually twenty years older.

Poland

Since the early Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

the sign of the swastika was well established among all Slavic lands. Known as swarzyca, it was primarily associated with one of the Slavic gods named Svarog

Svarog

Svarog is a Slavic deity known primarily from the Hypatian Codex, a Slavic translation of the Chronicle of John Malalas. Svarog is there identified with Hephaestus, the god of the blacksmith in ancient Greek religion, and as the father of Dažbog, a Slavic solar deity...

With time the association with Slavic gods faded, but the swastika was preserved both as a personal symbol of various personalities, such as the Boreyko Coat of Arms, and in folk culture, for example, in the region of Podhale

Podhale

The Podhale is Poland's most southern region, sometimes referred to as the "Polish highlands". The Podhale is located in the foothills of the Tatra range of the Carpathian mountains, and is characterized by a rich tradition of folklore that is much romanticized in the Polish patriotic imagination...

, where the swastika was used as a talisman

Amulet

An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...

well into the 20th century. As a solar symbol, it was painted or carved on various parts of houses in the Tatra Mountains

Tatra Mountains

The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...

and was thought to save the household from evil.

The ancient symbol used by the Góral

Goral

Goral may refer to:* Three species of Asian ungulates in the genus Naemorhedus.* The Gorals, a people living in southern Poland, northern Slovakia and the Czech Republic....

societies was adopted by the Polish mountain infantry units

Podhale rifles

Podhale Rifles is the traditional name of the mountain infantry units of the Polish Army. Formed in 1918 out of volunteers of the region of Podhale, in 1919 the smaller detachments of Podhale Rifles were pressed into two mountain infantry divisions, the 21st Mountain Infantry and 22nd Mountain...

in the 1920s.

It was adopted as a regimental insignia by the artillery units of the 21st and 22nd Infantry Divisions, as well as by the soldiers of the 4th Legions' Infantry, the 2nd and the 4th Podhale Rifles. A distinctive blue swastika was a background emblem of The Air defence and Anti-gas League (1928–1939, LOPP), which had circa 1.5 million members in 1937.

Outside of the military traditions, the mountaineer's swastika also influenced a number of other symbols and logos used on Polish soil. Among such was the logo of the IGNIS publishing company (est. 1822), and the personal symbol of Mieczysław Karłowicz, a notable composer and admirer of the Tatras. After his death in the mountains in 1909, the place of his death was marked by a memorial stone and a swastika http://www.idn.org.pl/medykon/tatry/pomnik.htm. Finally, it was also used as a personal logo and ex libris

Bookplate

A bookplate, also known as ex-librīs [Latin, "from the books of..."], is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner...

by Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski

Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski

Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski was a Polish painter and photographer. He was also a cofounder of the Polish Tatra Society.-Sources:*Andrzej Szpakowski "Walery Eljasz Radzikowski", Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa 1960....

of Boreyko Coat of Arms, a Polish author who was also strongly influenced by the Polish mountaineers and had a swastika on the dust jackets of all his books and letters.

Russia

The Russian Provisional Government of 1917 printed a number of new bank notes with right-facing, diagonally rotated swastikas in their centres.

Sweden

In a painting of the Norse

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

god Thor

Thor

In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...

fighting jotner, by the Swedish artist Mårten Eskil Winge

Mårten Eskil Winge

Mårten Eskil Winge was a Swedish artist especially known for his Norse mythology paintings. He was a friend of August Malmström and under influence from Nils Blommér and Carl Wahlbom.-References:* Från vår konstverld...

from 1872, a swastika is clearly visible in his belt.

The Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

company ASEA

ASEA

Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget was a Swedish industry company. It merged with the Swiss Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1988 to form Asea Brown Boveri...

, now a part of Asea Brown Boveri

Asea Brown Boveri

ABB is a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, and best known for its robotics. ABB operates mainly in the power and automation technology areas. It ranked 143rd in Forbes Ranking ....

, used the swastika in its logo from the 1890s to 1933, when it was removed from the logo.

United Kingdom

The British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

author Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...

, who was strongly influenced by India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n culture, had a swastika as his personal moniker on the covers and flyleaves of many editions of his books until the rise of Nazism made this inappropriate. One of Kipling's Just So Stories
Just So Stories
The Just So Stories for Little Children were written by British author Rudyard Kipling. They are highly fantasised origin stories and are among Kipling's best known works.-Description:...

, "The Crab That Played With The Sea", had an elaborate full-page illustration by Kipling including a stone bearing what was called "a magic mark" (a swastika); some later editions of the stories blotted out the mark, but not its captioned reference, leaving readers wondering what the "mark" was.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the swastika was used as the emblem of the British National War Savings Committee.

The swastika was also used as a symbol by the Boy Scouts

Scouting

Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

in the United Kingdom, and worldwide. According to "Johnny" Walker, the earliest Scouting use was on the first Thanks Badge introduced in 1911. Robert Baden-Powell

Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....

's 1922 Medal of Merit design adds a swastika to the Scout fleur-de-lis

Fleur-de-lis

The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...

as good luck to the person receiving the medal. Like Kipling, he would have come across this symbol in India. During 1934 many Scouters requested a change of design because of the use of the swastika by the Nazis

National Socialist German Workers Party

The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...

. A new British Medal of Merit was issued in 1935.

A bank in Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

has refused to remove swastika mosaic tiles from the entry of a branch office constructed in 1927. A bank spokesperson replied to critics noting that "At that time, these symbols were commonly used as architectural decoration."

Located on the Woodhouse Crag, on the Northern edge of Ilkley Moor

Ilkley Moor

Ilkley Moor is part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. The peat bogs rise to 402 m above sea level...

in West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

there is a swastika shaped pattern engraved in a stone, known as the Swastika Stone

Swastika Stone

The Swastika Stone is a stone adorned with a Swastika located on the Woodhouse Crag, on the Northern edge of Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire. The design has a double outline with five curved arms enclosing several so-called 'cup' marks, the like of which can be found on other stones nearby.The design...

. IMAGE. In the figure in the foreground of the picture is a 20th century replica; the original carving can be seen a little further away, at the centre-left of the picture. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mjpowell/Photo_Archive/England/England_3.htm

There are both left- and right-facing swastikas on the war memorial at the entrance to Balmoral castle in Scotland.

The druid

Druid

A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....

s in the mid 1920s adorned their dress with swastikas.

There is a Fylfot made into the brickwork on a building inside the British Aerospace

British Aerospace

British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...

factory in Broughton in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. It is unknown why the Fylfot was put on a brick but it has been suggested it was done so because it was an ancient Asian peace symbol. The current Broughton site which makes wings for the Airbus has a history of fighter plane construction going back to WWI.

The Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

's 273 Squadron adopted a cruciform fylfot as opposed to the Nazi Swastika which was a reversed fylfot, which it used as a squadron badge. It was around since the earliest RAF in 1918 and I understand was an emblem for the Ceylon Fighter Defence in 1939.

Many Churches and Cathederals in the UK feature Swastika motifs.

United States

The swastika symbol is extremely polarizing in the United States, although the First Amendment to the United States Constitution

First Amendment to the United States Constitution

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...

protects most uses of it. Many older buildings, built before the swastika became associated with Nazism, have swastikas built into their architectural decorations. Some of these building are listed in the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

Displayed with Christian and Jewish symbols

Several examples of U.S. architectural decoration feature swastikas displayed alongside other religious symbols.

The Bahá'í House of Worship

Bahá'í House of Worship (Wilmette, Illinois)

The Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, is the oldest surviving Baha'i House of Worship in the world, and the only one in the United States.-Early plans:...

for the North American continent, located in Wilmette, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, depicts religious symbols on each of its 9 outer pillars. "The symbols are arranged in chronological order-from bottom to top-on the pillars. That's why the swastika is at the base, with the Star of David above it..." The design dates to 1920 but construction was not completed until 1953. The largest Bahá'í

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

House of Worship in the world, the white domed building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

since 1978.

The "Golden Rule Window" in the Transfiguration Episcopal Church in New York City features medallion symbols depicting world religions, with Buddhism represented by the "flyflot cross" near a Jewish menorah. Built in 1849 with several modifications through 1926, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1973. During the Civil War the church worked for abolition of slavery and harbored runaway slaves.

A student union at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

includes a 1929 chapel with stained glass windows that feature religious symbols. A swastika with right-facing arms is included, along with a Christian cross, Hebrew star and others.

The Yerkes Observatory

Yerkes Observatory

Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the University of Chicago in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. The observatory, which calls itself "the birthplace of modern astrophysics," was founded in 1897 by George Ellery Hale and financed by Charles T. Yerkes...

in Geneva Lake Wisconsin, established in 1897 by the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

, includes ornate decoration. The rotunda includes a swastika symbol adjacent to a Star of David.

As a Native American symbol

Because this was a popular symbol with the Navajo people

Navajo people

The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...

, the Arizona Department of Transportation

Arizona Department of Transportation

The Arizona Department of Transportation is an Arizona state government agency charged with facilitating mobility within the state. In addition to managing the state's highway system, the agency is also involved with public transportation and municipal airports...

marked its state highways with signs featuring a right-facing swastika superimposed on an arrowhead. In 1942, after the United States entered World War Two, the department replaced the signs.

The swastika's use by the Navajo and other tribes made it a popular symbol for the Southwestern United States

Southwestern United States

The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...

. Until the 1930s, blankets, metalwork, and other Southwestern souvenirs were often made with swastikas.

Shortly after the beginning of World War II, several Native American tribes (the Navajo

Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...

, Apache

Apache

Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...

, Tohono O'odham

Tohono O'odham

The Tohono O'odham are a group of Native American people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona and northwest Mexico...

, and Hopi

Hopi

The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...

) published a decree stating that they would no longer use the swastika in their artwork. This was because the swastika had come to symbolize evil to the tourists who purchased their crafts. This decree was signed by representatives of these tribes. The decree states:
The original Penobscot Building in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

, completed about 1906, "was named after the Penobscot Indian tribe and region of Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, the boyhood home of one of the investors. An interesting feature in the Indian-themed detail of the building is the occasional appearance of a swastika, a symbol important to the Penobscots long before it was adopted by the Nazi party." The decorative symbols feature right-facing arms and are tilted in the same manner as the Nazi flag, leading to confusion over their origin.

Use by the military

The 45th Infantry Division of the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

used a yellow swastika on a red background as a unit symbol until the 1930s, when it was switched to a thunderbird

Thunderbird (mythology)

The Thunderbird is a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture. It is considered a "supernatural" bird of power and strength...

.^~ The American Division wore the swastika patch while fighting against Germany in World War I

World War I

The Lafayette Escadrille

Lafayette Escadrille

The Lafayette Escadrille , was an escadrille of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters.-History:Dr. Edmund L...

squadron flew World War I

World War I

fighters against Germany from 1916 to 1918, first as volunteers under French command and later as a US unit. The official squadron insignia was a Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

with a swastika adorned headdress. Some of the squadron planes also bore a large swastika in addition to the squadron insignia.

Among the Lafayette Escadrille members who were killed in action was Arthur Bluethenthal

Arthur Bluethenthal

Arthur Bluethenthal, nicknamed "Bluey" , was an All American football player for Princeton University, who died in combat fighting for France in World War I.-Early life:...

of Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

, who is buried in a Jewish cemetery with a grave marker that includes the squadron insignia, complete with swastika

The U.S. Army 12th Infantry Regiment coat of arms includes a number of historic symbols. A tepee with small, left facing swastikas represents the unit's campaigns in the Indian Wars of the late 19th century. The Regiment fought German forces during World War II, landing on D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

at Utah Beach

Utah Beach

Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...

, through five European campaigns and received a Presidential Unit Citation for action during the Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...

Government use

Swastikas and the similar Greek key symbol appear in decorative features of a number of U.S. federal, state and local government buildings including schools and county courthouses.

Swastikas surround the exterior window iconography at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington D.C. on Constitution Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets. The building was designed by Paul Philippe Cret

Paul Philippe Cret

Paul Philippe Cret was a French-American architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he headed the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.- Biography :...

and completed in 1937. Cret fought against Germany during World War I

World War I

while serving in the French army. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre

Croix de guerre

The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

and made an officer in the Legion of Honor.

The Reno, Nevada

Reno, Nevada

Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

Post Office features both left and right facing swastikas, along with other designs typical of "Zig Zag Moderne" style, later known as a variation of "Art Deco". It was designed in 1932 by Frederic Joseph DeLongchamps

Frederic Joseph DeLongchamps

Frederic Joseph DeLongchamps was an American architect. He was one of Nevada's most prolific architects, yet is notable for entering the architectural profession with no extensive formal training.-Early life and education:...

, who had previously served as the Nevada State Architect. The building was financed in part by the federal Civil Works Administration

Civil Works Administration

The Civil Works Administration was established by the New Deal during the Great Depression to create manual labor jobs for millions of unemployed. The jobs were merely temporary, for the duration of the hard winter. Harry L. Hopkins was put in charge of the organization. President Franklin D...

and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1990.

The six-story Federal Building in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

features a Mediterranean style and decorative Native American design motifs. Built in 1930, its decorative features include
"Radiators set in each wall of the foyer [that] are hidden by brass grilles in a swastika design". It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

since 1980.

The third La Crosse County, Wisconsin courthouse was built in 1903 and razed in 1965. Numerous swastika patterns are visible in photographs of a mosaic tile floor. The symbols have shortened arms pointing to the left.

The DeKalb County Courthouse

DeKalb County Courthouse (Illinois)

The DeKalb County Courthouse is located in the county seat of DeKalb County, Illinois, U.S.A., the city of Sycamore. The Classical Revival structure sits on a square facing Illinois Route 64 as it passes through the city. The current courthouse was constructed in 1905 amid controversy over where...

in Sycamore, Illinois

Sycamore, Illinois

Sycamore is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. It has a commercial district based and centered on Illinois Route 64. The population was 17,519 at the 2010 census, up from 12,020 at the 2000 census.-Early settlement:...

, built in 1905, includes swastika decorated railings. The Classical Revival style courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1978.

Swastikas are a minor feature in painted murals in the Allen County Courthouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

, completed in 1902. They are described as "a Native American symbol for joy". The murals were restored beginning in 1994 as part of an eight-year, $8.6 million dollar project. The courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1976, and as a National Historic Landmark in 2003.

Mosaic swastika tile patterns decorate the floor of the Washington County

Washington County, Ohio

Washington County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,778. Its county seat is Marietta. The county, the oldest in the state, is named for George Washington. Washington County is included in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, West Virginia-Ohio...

Courthouse in Marietta, Ohio

Marietta, Ohio

Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Ohio, United States. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. Marietta is located in southeastern Ohio at the mouth...

, designed by Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

architect Samuel Hannaford and built in 1901. The tiles are described as "an adopted Indian symbol for 'good luck and prosperity.'"

The Laguna Bridge in Yuma, Arizona

Yuma, Arizona

Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

was built in 1905 by the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Reclamation Department

United States Bureau of Reclamation

The United States Bureau of Reclamation , and formerly the United States Reclamation Service , is an agency under the U.S...

and is decorated with a row of swastikas with right-facing arms. Their symbolism is doubly confusing. Native Americans used the symbol in the southwest U.S., but the bridge was a unique design from the country of India

India

.

The U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

base at Coronado, California

Coronado, California

Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...

has four L-shaped buildings laid out in a pattern that appears to be a swastika when viewed from above.

Other government buildings with swastika decorative features are listed in the Swastika Tiles section.

Placenames

Swastika Park is the name of a housing subdivision in Miami, Florida, created in 1917. An upscale subdivision in Denver is named "Swastika Acres". Its name has been traced to the Denver Swastika Land Company, founded in 1908. Swastika New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, located near the Adirondack Park Preserve in the northeast corner of the state, is adjacent to "Swastika Road". The public access area of Fish Lake near Windom, Minnesota

Windom, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,490 people, 1,910 households, and 1,195 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,263.6 people per square mile . There were 2,089 housing units at an average density of 587.9 per square mile...

is named Swastika Beach. The "Swastika Trail" is a historic auto trail in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. The state department of transportation web site explains "When this route was designated, the Swastika symbol was recognized for its attributes as a charm or amulet, as a sign of benediction, blessing, long life, good fortune, and good luck."

Commercial use

The K-R-I-T Motor Car Company

K-R-I-T Motor Car Company

K-R-I-T was a small automobile manufacturing company based in Detroit, Michigan.-History:Its name probably originated from Kenneth Crittenden who provided financial backing and helped design the cars. The emblem of the cars was a swastika...

, Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

built cars from 1909 to 1915 with a radiator badge that featured a right-facing white swastika on a blue background.

The Crane Valve Company manufactured steel valves in the 1920s and 30's in the U.S. with swastika markings, using a symbol with the arms pointed to the right.

The Buffum Tool Company of Louisiana, Missouri

Louisiana, Missouri

Louisiana is a city in Pike County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,863 at the 2000 census, making it the largest city in Pike Couunty. Louisiana is located in northeast Missouri, on the Mississippi River south of Hannibal....

manufactured "High Grade Tools for High Grade Workmen" from about 1909 to 1922. The Buffum company's trademark was a swastika with right facing arms. During World War I it made bayonets and airplane parts. The company's logo was the "Good Luck/Blessing/Swastika Cross" and many of the products, sold nationwide, had "the good luck cross on them."

The Washington Charcrete Company manufactured "laundry trays" (concrete utility sinks) with an imprinted logo bearing a swastika. Some examples survive (see pictures), but the date of their manufacture is unknown. The company did business in the states of Washington and Oregon and is mentioned in a 1914 ruling by the Supreme Court of Washington State.

The Duplex Adding Machine Company of St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

issued stock certificates in 1910 that show the company's logo, a swastika with right-facing arms and math symbols.

Flour was sold under the brand name Swastika, The Lucky Flour by the Federal Milling Co., Lockport, N.Y. as advertised in 1909, and by the Monte Vista Milling and Elevator Company of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, which registered the name in 1910.

The Downtown Historic District in Raton, New Mexico

Raton, New Mexico

Raton is a city in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 7,282 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Colfax County. The city is located just south of Raton Pass.-Name:...

, listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, includes the Swastika Coal office and Swastika Hotel buildings.

The mining town of Lakeview Idaho featured a "Swastika Hotel" in 1910, owned and operated by the Swastika Mining Company.

The St. Louis, Rocky Mountain and Pacific Railroad Company operated with cars and locomotives "emblazoned with the red swastika symbol adopted as the road’s trademark." The symbol featured right facing arms and was tilted at an angle. The 105-mile "Swastika Line" operated from about 1902 to 1915, with major stops at Raton

Raton, New Mexico

and Cimarron, New Mexico

Cimarron, New Mexico

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 917 people, 382 households, and 255 families residing in the village. The population density was 479.5 people per square mile . There were 449 housing units at an average density of 234.8 per square mile...

. The tracks were torn up for scrap during World War II

World War II

when "Swastika Line iron was used to fight a different kind of swastikas in Europe."

A "Swastika Theater" operated in Sausalito, California

Sausalito, California

Sausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...

in the early 20th Century. Another "Swastika Theater" operated in Akron, Indiana

Akron, Indiana

Akron is a town in Henry Township, Fulton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,167 at the 2010 census. Akron hosts a nationally-famous All-Americana 4th of July parade and fireworks...

"Swastika Boards" were built using laminated redwood and balsa wood by legendary surfer Lorrin "Whitey" Harrison in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

from 1931 until 1939 when they were renamed "Waikiki Surfboards" "Swastikas became the most widely used production solid board of the period leading into World War II."

Use in popular culture

Swastika quilt patterns were popular in America prior to World War II. In 2010 the Greeley Museums in Greeley, Colorado

Greeley, Colorado

The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...

received a donated quilt covered in 27 swastikas, believed to date to around 1900. "The swastika quilt-block pattern is also known as the Battle X of Thor, Catch Me If You Can, Devil's Dark Horse, Whirligig and Zig Zag" according to the museum registrar. The quilt was not put on general display while museum officials considered how to provide context.

A quilt with swastika-like pattern dating to 1927 was removed from display from a Havre, Montana

Havre, Montana

Havre is a city in, and the county seat of, Hill County, Montana, United States. It is said to be named after the city of Le Havre in France. The population was 9,621 at the 2000 census.-History:...

museum in December 2010 after complaints from the public. A group of residents of the Bear's Paw Mountains had embroidered their names in the historic quilt, a gift for an ill neighbor. "It was a very, very nice quilt and the story behind it was absolutely heartwarming" according to a member of the museum foundation.

Metal typeface

Typeface

In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....

Swastika borders were used by U.S. printers in the early 20th century. Controversy arose in 1937 when they appeared on Passaic, New Jersey

Passaic, New Jersey

Passaic is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 69,781, maintaining its status as the 15th largest municipality in New Jersey with an increase of 1,920 residents from the 2000 Census population of 67,861...

sample election ballots. The printer responded "I've used the swastika emblems for ballot borders long before the world ever knew Hitler".

Use by non-political clubs and organizations

The Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...

sponsored a Girl's Club with swastika membership pins, swastika-decorated handkerchief and a magazine titled "The Swastika". Their version of the symbol was square with right facing arms. The club was formed around the 20th century to encourage young women to sell magazine subscriptions.

The 1939 Tennessee State University

Tennessee State University

Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...

yearbook lists a "Swastika Club" among women's student organizations. The group focused on literature, scholarship and "clear and straight thinking". Tennessee State is the only state-funded historically Black university in Tennessee.

The yearbook for Catawba College

Catawba College

Catawba College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in Salisbury, North Carolina, USA. Founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Classis of the Reformed Church in Newton, the college adopted its name from its county of origin, Catawba County, before moving to its current home of Salisbury...

in Salisbury, North Carolina

Salisbury, North Carolina

Salisbury is a city in Rowan County in North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. The population was 33,663 in the 2010 Census . It is the county seat of Rowan County...

, first published in 1927, was known as the "Swastika", after a native American design pattern found in the original tile of a campus administration building. The name was changed in 1941. The liberal arts college was established by the United Church of Christ in 1851.

The Theosophical Society

Theosophical Society

The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...

, founded in New York in 1875, incorporated the Swastika into its seal because of the Hindu and Buddhist associations of the symbol, combining it with a Star of David

Star of David

The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...

, Ankh

Ankh

The ankh , also known as key of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life", a triliteral sign for the consonants ʻ-n-ḫ...

and Ouroboros

Ouroboros

The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; οὐρά meaning "tail" and βόρος meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail"....

.

At least one minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

team used the name: the Cañon City Swastikas represented Cañon City, Colorado

Cañon City, Colorado

The City of Cañon City is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Fremont County, State of Colorado. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the city population was 16,000 in 2005. Cañon City is noted for being the location of nine state and four ...

in the Class D Rocky Mountain League in 1912. The team moved to Raton, New Mexico

Raton, New Mexico

mid-season, then disbanded along with the league.

The "Swastika Club of Freedom Township" was formed in 1923 in rural Iowa

Iowa

, a social club serving farm women. The group produced a "Swastika Club Cookbook" in 1934. Its name was changed to the “Freedom Township Women’s Club” in 1942. Another "Swastika Club" for women met in Howell County Missouri in the 1920s.

The Swastika Canoe Club, of Pawtuxet Village

Pawtuxet Village

Pawtuxet Village is a section of the towns of Warwick and Cranston, Rhode Island. It is located at the point where the Pawtuxet River flows into the Providence River and Narragansett Bay.- History :...

competed with other canoe clubs in the eastern U.S. A website on area history explains: "For the record, the Swastika Canoe Club had no relation whatsoever to the Nazi Party; the swastika was long before considered a sacred symbol in Eastern philosophies."

Coins, tokens and watch fobs

Collectors have identified more than 1,400 different swastika design coins, souvenir or merchant/trade tokens and watch fobs, distributed by mostly local retail and service businesses in the United States. The tokens that can be dated range from 1885 to 1939, with a few later exceptions. About 57 percent have the swastika symbol facing to the left, 43 percent to the right. Most promise good luck or feature other symbols such as a horseshoe, four leaf clover, rabbit's foot, wishbone or keys.

According to one collector: "Swastika tokens have nothing to do with Herr Hitler and his ill-fated Third Reich. The swastika is an ancient symbol of good luck adopted and promoted by advertising token salesmen during the first quarter of the 20th Century in the U.S. The swastika is found together with other symbols of good luck in stock reverses on many merchant tokens and commemorative medals such as used to celebrate the 1932
Washington's birthday centennial."

In 1925, Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

made a lucky watch fob in the shape of a swastika with right-facing arms and the slogan, "Drink Coca Cola five cents in bottles". The Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company

Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company

The Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company was the first company to manufacture and sell gasoline powered farm tractors. Based in Waterloo, Iowa, the company was created by John Froelich and a group of Iowa businessmen in 1893, and was originally named the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company...

of Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...

offered a "Good Luck" token featuring a left facing swastika in addition to a four-leaf clover, horseshoe, wishbone and Plains Indian emblem. The company was sold in 1918 and became known as the John Deere Tractor Company. Harvard University Library has a 1908 leather watch fob with a brass swastika that was created for the presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...

.

The 1917 World War I

World War I

good luck medal was produced in the US with an American eagle superimposed by a four-leaf clover "and a swastika - an ancient symbol of good luck". The medal was designed by Adam Pietz, who served as Assistant Engraver at the United States Mint

United States Mint

The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...

in Philadelphia for nearly 20 years. "Today this golden bronze medal is very rare, in part because so many of the Doughboy

Doughboy

Doughboy is an informal term for an American soldier, especially members of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. The term dates back to the Mexican–American War of 1846–48....

s marching off to the trenches of Eastern Europe lost their lives and their good luck medals on the battlefields."

Some Boy Scout good luck tokens issued by the Excelsior Shoe company feature the swastika on the reverse.

Architectural use

"No one should be alarmed to find swastikas in ornamentation", "It's one of the oldest and most universal symbols around, although meanings change across cultures. Swastikas appear on Germanic artifacts long before the days of the Nazis." that according to the author of "The Architectural Guidebook to New York City". The comments were in response to questions about a New York City building, built in 1916 for a German piano manufacturer, that features a variety of symbols including swastikas with right facing arms.

The Garfield Monument in Cleveland Ohio, dedicated in 1890 as a tomb and memorial for assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield, contains swastika tile patterns throughout the floor. The 180 feet (54.9 m) building was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1973.

A small swastika is visible in the elaborate carvings representing several cultures above the main entrance to the Yale University Library

Yale University Library

Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It is the second-largest academic library in the North America, with approximately 12.5 million volumes housed in 20 buildings on campus...

Swastikas are featured in the entryway of the Montana Club in Helena, Montana

Helena, Montana

Helena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. The 2010 census put the population at 28,180. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record. The Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns minor league hockey team call the...

. Rebuilt in 1905 using a design by architect Cass Gilbert

Cass Gilbert

- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...

, the site is the "oldest social club in the northwest" and in a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. Gilbert is also credited with designing the state capitols of Minnesota, West Virginia and Arkansas

Arkansas State Capitol

The Arkansas State Capitol Building, located in Little Rock, is the main house of government of the state of Arkansas.-History:In 1899, the St. Louis architect George R. Mann visited the governor of Arkansas Daniel W. Jones, and presented his drawings of his winning competition design for the...

and the US Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

Building.

The KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

, built in 1927 in the Pueblo Deco style and restored in 2000, is owned and operated by the city, which describes it as an "architectural gem". The building includes Native American design elements, including swastikas with right facing arms. It was nearly torn down in 1977, the same year the KiMo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

In 1907, the Corn Palace

Corn Palace

The Corn Palace is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in Mitchell, South Dakota. It is a popular tourist destination, visited by more than 500,000 people each year. The Moorish Revival building is decorated with Crop art; the murals and designs covering the building are made from corn and...

in Mitchell, South Dakota

Mitchell, South Dakota

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 14,558 people, 6,121 households, and 3,599 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,475.7 people per square mile . There were 6,555 housing units at an average density of 664.4 per square mile...

, featured a design that had a swastika on one of the towers. Each year the exterior is covered with elaborate murals made of South Dakota corn, grain and grasses. The building is the centerpiece of a historic district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

In Rapid City, South Dakota

Rapid City, South Dakota

Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...

, there are swastikas in the lobby of the Hotel Alex Johnson, which opened in 1928. They are decorations honoring the Native American culture of Western South Dakota. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

The original 1936 patented design (no. 98,617) for the Wigwam Motel

Wigwam Motel

The Wigwam Motels, also known as the "Wigwam Villages", is a motel chain in the United States in which the rooms are built in the form of teepees, hence the name "wigwam". It originally had seven different locations: two locations in Kentucky, a location in Alabama, another location in Florida, one...

in Holbrook, Arizona

Holbrook, Arizona

-Historical events:*During 1881 & 1882, railroad tracks were laid down and a railroad station was built. The community was then named Holbrook after the first engineer of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad...

, called for four swastikas to encircle each tepee shaped motel

Motel

A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...

room.

At the University of Maine

University of Maine

The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...

, in Orono, Maine

Orono, Maine

Orono is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It was first settled in 1774 and named in honor of Chief Joseph Orono of the Penobscot Nation. It is home to The University of Maine. The population was 10,362 at the 2010 census.- Geography :...

, three dormitories resemble swastikas when viewed from satellite images. UMAINE map

The Weston building on the campus of Williams College

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

in Massachusetts features left facing, tilted swastika brick patterns. The building was originally a fraternity with a charter that banned Jews and non-Caucasians. The college uses it for language classes to ensure regular use by different cultures, and built a Jewish religious center behind it.

The Shaffer Hotel in Mountainair, New Mexico

Mountainair, New Mexico

Mountainair is a town in Torrance County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,116 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area...

features both right and left facing swastika designs among its many Native American graphics. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

since 1978.

The Perelman Building is regarded as "one of the finest Art Deco structures in Philadelphia". Completed in 1928 as the headquarters of the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company, it is now part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...

. Swastikas are visible in the elaborate decorative scheme, credited to Lee Lawrie

Lee Lawrie

Lee Oscar Lawrie was one of the United States' foremost architectural sculptors and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II...

, whose work also adorns the Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...

, Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

and the National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1973, the building was named to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

features a walkway frieze with a swastika meander pattern. The first section of the current building was completed in 1928.

The Augustan Society

Augustan Society

The Augustan Society, Inc., headquartered in Orlando, Florida, was founded in 1957 to preserve material related to heraldry, genealogy, and orders of chivalry, and to further chivalric ideals in society. The Society moved to its current location from Daggett, California in 2007. The Society's...

Headquarters and Library, built in 1916 in the Mojave Desert

Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...

in Daggett, California

Daggett, California

Daggett is an unincorporated town located in San Bernardino County, California in the United States. The town is located on Interstate 40 ten miles East of Barstow. The town has a population of about 200. The ZIP code is 92327 and the community is inside area code 760.-History:The town was...

, includes Native American swastika designs. The non-profit is "An International Genealogical, Historical Heraldic and Chivalric Society".

The 1926 Pueblo Revival

Pueblo Revival Style architecture

The Pueblo Revival style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States which draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions in New Mexico. The style developed at the turn of the 20th century and reached its greatest popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, though it...

—Spanish Colonial Revival—Mission Revival Style architecture

Mission Revival Style architecture

The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....

of the Orcutt residence is decorated with Native American swastikas. It is located at the Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center

Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center

The Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center, formally known as Rancho Sombra del Roble, is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument located in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, California, USA.-William Orcutt's vacation home:...

in West Hills, Los Angeles, California. The property has been designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites in Los Angeles, California, which have been designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria.-History:...

.

Both right and left facing swastikas appear in disks near the top of columns on the Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin

Following World War II, the company entered a new business: land development and real estate. The company formed a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co., to develop housing in the Kahului area. In the following years, the company became more involved in the development of its land and the...

building in Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

, built in 1929 and added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1979.

A swastika design is visible on the exterior of the Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

downtown public library, built in 1931. A local website notes "They were a popular item in certain Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

designs, and many are used in architecture throughout Downtown Detroit. They also can be seen quite often on floor tiles in church buildings."

The First Chinese Church of Christ in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, dedicated in 1929, features wooden pews with swastika carvings. The symbols have right-facing arms and are tilted at an angle, similar to the Nazi flag. The church's official website indicates "The symbol on the pews is an ancient one which represents eternal blessedness." The church's design was the result of an architectural competition that resulted in a blend of western and old Chinese features.

The Memorial Presbyterian Church of St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...

was built in 1889 in Venetian Renaissance style, by a founding partner of Standard Oil Company

Standard Oil

Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...

. The elaborate building is unique among Presbyterian

Presbyterianism

Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...

churches, worldwide. Among its decorative features "...the pattern of the Sienna marble floor tiles, occasionally mistaken for the Nazi swastika-style design although its meaning of peace lies in the Hindu religion and is often repeated in Hopi Indian designs."

The Carlton Apartments in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, built in 1918, features an entryway framed by tiles with various patterns including the swastika.

Efforts to remove historical Swastikas

More than 900 cast iron lampposts decorated with swastikas remain in place in downtown Glendale, California

Glendale, California

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

. The lampposts were manufactured in Canton, Ohio

Canton, Ohio

Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...

and installed in the 1920s. In 1995 the city responded to complaints that the lampposts should be removed. The city attorney's response included "...research has revealed that the symbol itself was not uncommon in Judaism. The symbol itself has been found to appear in ancient synagogues as well as being found as a symbol appearing on sarcophagus in Roman catacombs." Cost to replace the lampposts was estimated at $3-million dollars. The Glendale Historical Society "has recommended preservation of the lampposts to the maximum extent possible."

The California State Historical Resources Commission nominated the Los Gatos Union High School

Los Gatos High School

Los Gatos High School is a high school in Los Gatos, California, a small town near San Jose in the Silicon Valley. Los Gatos High School was founded in 1908 and is part of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District...

for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Historic Architect A. G. Dill thanked the commission. "Ms. Dill stated that her office was galvanized in 1999 when the new school principal attempted to chisel off the Greek key design because it had a swastika pattern. The school was built in 1925 prior to the Nazi’s taking over the symbol. Educators need to be educated."

The New Mexico State University

New Mexico State University

New Mexico State University at Las Cruces , is a major land-grant university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States...

yearbook continued under the name "The Swastika" in honor of the traditional meaning of the symbol. The University has an archive of a 1983 campaign to change the name, including correspondence with the Anti-Defamation League

Anti-Defamation League

The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...

.

In January 1999, Civil Rights groups asked the Jefferson County, Alabama

Jefferson County, Alabama

Jefferson County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, with its county seat being located in Birmingham.As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 658,466...

Commission to remove nine swastikas carved into stone pillars at the county courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

. The building was completed in 1931 with symbols featuring both left and right facing arms. A commission aide said officials would not consider the request unless there were "an awful lot of folks worrying us."

The restored Balboa Park Hospitality House in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

became controversial when swastika symbols were discovered on five light fixtures. The design dates to 1935. Park officials welded metal plates over the swastikas after a protest by the Anti-Defamation League

Anti-Defamation League

. The San Diego Historical Society notes that the lamps were donated by a German American group and were intended to represent Nazi symbols. The nearby Balboa Park tea house had previously featured swastika decorations in 1915.

A hand-carved wooden horse with swastikas on its saddle http://www.iinet.com/~englishriver/LewisClarkColumbiaRiver/Regions/Places/jantzen_beach_carousel.html has been removed from a classic carousel

Carousel

A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...

at a shopping center in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

following complaints by the public. The carousel was built in 1921 and installed in Venice, California and later was a featured ride at Jantzen Beach

Jantzen Beach

Jantzen Beach Amusement Park was a popular amusement park from 1928 to 1970 in Portland, Oregon, on Hayden Island in the middle of the Columbia River. "The Coney Island of the West" opened on May 26, 1928 as the largest amusement park in the nation, covering over at the northern tip of...

Amusement Park which opened in 1928 as the largest amusement park in the US. The Parker "Four-Row Park Carousel" was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1987. It is the only surviving carousel out of four made from the design. The original was created for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Swastika tiles

Ceramic tiles with a swastika design were produced by a number of North American manufacturers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were often installed in repeating patterns or in combination with related ancient symbols. In western architecture, pre-World War II

World War II

swastika tiles are typically a minor decorative element and have only become prominent when their original intent or symbolic meaning has been re-interpreted.

Swastika tiles adorn the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton

Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...

, in a room built in the 1930s. A newspaper article in The Press of Atlantic City

The Press of Atlantic City

The Press of Atlantic City is a daily newspaper based in Pleasantville, New Jersey. It is the primary newspaper for most of southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore, publishing regional editions for Atlantic County, Cumberland County, Cape May County, and southern Ocean County...

notes that the statehouse tiles were created by the local Mueller Mosaic Company. Led by Herman Carl Mueller

Herman Carl Mueller

Herman Carl Mueller , noted ceramicist, was the founder of the Mueller Mosaic Company of Trenton....

, the firm used an innovative technique that combined glazing

Ceramic glaze

Glaze is a layer or coating of a vitreous substance which has been fired to fuse to a ceramic object to color, decorate, strengthen or waterproof it.-Use:...

and deep carving to create a photographic-like sense of depth. The tiles were installed throughout the US and Canada

Canada

. The swastika design was only one of many different symbols featured in the Mueller catalog.

Reprints of tile catalogs, including the 1930 Mueller Mosaic Faience

Faience

Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...

Tile Inserts catalog are available from the non-profit California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

based Tile Heritage Foundation's website. Swastika tiles are also featured in the 1920 catalog from Wheatley Pottery Company of Cincinnati Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, the 1928 catalog from the Cambridge-Wheatley Company of Covington, Kentucky

Covington, Kentucky

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...

, which marketed Wheatley tiles and a 1930's catalog from the Franklin Pottery Company of Lansdale, Pennsylvania

Lansdale, Pennsylvania

Lansdale is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Early in the 20th century, its industries included agricultural implement works, a canning factory, foundries, brickyards, a silk mill, and manufacturers of cigars, stoves, shirts, rope, iron drain pipe,...

.

The Mueller tiles with swastika design can be found at the St. James Episcopal Church (1927), and the Immanuel Presbyterian Church (1928) in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

In May 2006, five terra cotta

Glazed architectural terra-cotta

Glazed architectural terra-cotta is a ceramic masonry building material popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s, and still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments...

tiles were removed from St. Mary's Cathedral in St. Cloud Minnesota, which serves the oldest parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

in the community. The upper church, constructed in the late 1920s, included a number of decorative tiles including a series of ten that depicted ancient forms of the cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

. Located near the eaves, the tiles represented the crux gammata, also known as the Gammadion, "hooked cross". The five swastika tiles alternated with a related design featuring the Lauburu

Lauburu

The lauburu or Basque cross has four comma-shaped heads similar to the Japanese tomoe. It can be constructed with a compass and straightedge, beginning with the formation of a square template; each head can be drawn from a neighboring vertex of this template with two compass settings, with one...

or "Basque cross". The upper church's final design was created by the local architectural firm of Nairne W. Fisher, who had fought against Germany during World War I

World War I

The Italian Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

style includes Art Deco

Art Deco

features, including the ancient symbols, sunburst brick patterns and zig zag details.

Three of the tiles were destroyed in the process of removal, one was put on permanent display at the church. The removal was prompted in part by criticism from some current and former faculty at St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University is a four-year public university founded in 1869 on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. The university is the largest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system which is the largest single provider of higher...

, where the university's electronic diversity newsletter featured a series of articles, including a history of the swastika that claimed by 1920 it was already "the symbol of Aryan

Aryan

conquest and mastery". The article references small, obscure and secret European organizations with anti-Semitic views. It makes no mention of the use of swastikas in the US at the time the church was designed. In a book about the Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...

, an art history professor noted that Hitler chose the swastika in 1920 and "... the swastikas of St. Cloud would follow shortly." At the time of construction, St. Mary's was under the control of the Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

Monks at Saint Johns University

College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University

The College of Saint Benedict , for women, and Saint John's University , for men, are partnered liberal arts colleges respectively located in St. Joseph and Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Students attend classes and activities together, and have access to the resources of both campuses...

in Collegeville

Collegeville Township, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,516 people, 669 households, and 559 families residing in the township. The population density was 111.1 people per square mile . There were 721 housing units at an average density of 22.8/sq mi...

, who arrived in Central Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

in 1851 from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Saint John's is best known, architecturally, for its Abbey church designed by Jewish architect Marcel Breuer

Marcel Breuer

Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...

, who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

According to documents at the Stearns History Museum in St. Cloud, approximately ten years before St. Mary's was designed, there were more than 2000 local residents from the heavily German Catholic area serving in the US military, fighting against Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. President Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

wrote a letter to the local Catholic bishop thanking him for his support of the war

World War I

effort

The removal coincided with the sesquicentennial

Anniversary

An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...

anniversary for the city, St. John's University and St. Mary's parish

Parish

. St. Cloud is a "Preserve America Community". An SCSU professor produced a documentary film about the removal of the ceramic disks.

Other Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

s that include swastika tiles among their decorations include: Saint Joseph Cathedral, Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, a Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

design by architect Edward J. Weber of Pittsburgh, completed in 1925. St. Colman's Cathedral, built between 1868 and 1925 overlooking the port city of Cobh

Cobh

Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Christ Church Cathedral, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, constructed in the 1880s. The Cathedral of Tampico, Tamaulipas, completed in the late 19th century with additional remodeling (see Tour By Mexico website for photograph of swastika tile floor, click on fifth camera icon). A tile floor at Hereford Cathedral

Hereford Cathedral

The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a mediæval map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.-Origins:...

in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

is laid out in a swastika like pattern with arms pointed to the right.. The floor at Amiens Cathedral

Amiens Cathedral

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens , or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and seat of the Bishop of Amiens...

in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

features a right-facing swastika pattern with shortened arms, similar to the St. Cloud

St. Cloud, Minnesota

St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 65,842 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stearns County...

tiles. A popular tourist destination, Amiens is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Plummer House in Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...

includes swastika tiles. The five-story home was constructed beginning in 1917 by Dr. Henry Plummer

Henry Stanley Plummer

Henry Stanley Plummer, M.D. was a prominent internist and endocrinologist who, along with Drs. William Mayo, Charles Mayo, Stinchfield, E. Starr Judd, Christopher Graham, and Donald Balfour founded Mayo Clinic. Dr...

, a prominent figure in the history of the Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...

. The home was designed by Thomas Ellerbe, a second generation architect whose firm is now known as Ellerbe Becket

Ellerbe Becket

Ellerbe Becket, an AECOM Company, is a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based architectural, engineering, interior design and construction firm – ranked as one of the world's largest architectural firms – and with offices in Dallas, TX, Kansas City, MO, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, Dubai,...

. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

since 1975.

Swastika floor tiles with left-facing arms will be left in place at a Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

elementary school built in 1929. A member of the City's Native American Commission noted that the nine tiles at the school entrances have roots in Native American symbolism. “It has different meanings. Sometimes people say it’s a good luck symbol. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Nazi symbolism.”

St. Columba's Catholic Church in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...

, was designed by Pittsburg architect John T. Cornes and completed in 1914 as a territorial church for English speaking immigrants. Various forms of the cross are represented in the sanctuary's mosaic floor, including swastika designs. A local art enthusiast notes "People don't realise that the swastika was not always a sign of hatred and horror; it originally symbolized good lock and fortune"

Swastika floor tiles were removed from the St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...

in March 1996, after they were discovered during renovation of the church entrance. The church was built in the early 1920s.

The Arizona Department of Agriculture building in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, built in 1930, features swastika tiles in a pattern near its roofline.

The Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building (HPER) at Indiana University

Indiana University Bloomington

Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...

contains decorative Native American-inspired swastika tile

Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...

work on the walls of the foyer and stairwells on the southeast side of the building. In response to a complaint about the tiles, "The president of the university sent a letter to the student, which explained the history of the symbol and the context in which it was placed in the HPER building when it was built in 1917, prior to use of the symbol by the Nazis. The student appreciated the response".
Swastika floor tiles appear in Breidenbaugh Hall, at Gettysburg College

Gettysburg College

Gettysburg College is a private four-year liberal arts college founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has about 2,700 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women...

in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

, built in 1927.

In November 1998 the Rome, New York

Rome, New York

Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but...

Sentinel newspaper reported that swastika tiles were removed from the Gansevoort Elementary School where they had survived on a school floor for 84 years. The newspaper's editorial responded: "School officials lost a chance to enlighten the public. A recommendation earlier this year by a committee of Gansevoort staff and parents to "leave the floor as is" and install a display about the history of the swastika was ignored. Instead, at the risk of being viewed by a small, uninformed segment of the community as being politically incorrect

Political correctness

Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...

, they knuckled under to pressure rather than educate. How unfortunate!"

The same Sentinel editorial also notes that similar tiles were left untouched at a Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

, Temple Beth El, in nearby Utica, New York

Utica, New York

Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

"because the connotation to the Jewish congregation is not that of the Third Reich."

Swastika tiles in a condominium lobby floor in White Plains, New York

White Plains, New York

White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...

became the subject of a television news story and internet postings in September 2011. The housing complex's management indicated "the tile was installed before WWII when the building was built in 1924, noting it had never received a complaint before."

In 1991, the Shorewood, Wisconsin

Shorewood, Wisconsin

Shorewood is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 13,763 at the 2000 census. Howell Raines of The New York Times said in 1979 that "[t]his maplestudded town on Lake Michigan dotes on its reputation as Milwaukee's most liberal suburb."-Geography:Shorewood is...

school board voted to remove tiles with swastika engravings from their high School physical education building.

The Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

News Agency reported in 1990 that the seaside community of Hull, Massachusetts

Hull, Massachusetts

Hull is a peninsula town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,293 at the 2010 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County and the fourth smallest in the state...

voted to remove swastika tiles from their town hall floor, built in 1923, after complaints from the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

Director of the Jewish Defense League

Jewish Defense League

The Jewish Defense League is a Jewish organization whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"...

. The removal went forward in spite of opposition from a local Jewish synagogue.

Multicolored swastika tiles are visible on the exterior of a Chinese restaurant at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City Missouri. The building dates to the early 1930s. The editor of a local Jewish publication reacted by saying "You know, the swastika does predate Nazism. Short of any Nazi context, I don’t think you should find it offensive.”

The foyer of Central High School in Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....

features right-facing swastikas set into the tile floor. The school was built in 1906 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1979.

The Bonneville County courthouse in Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

has swastika floor tiles that have been alternately covered up and painted over. An architectural historian for the Idaho State Historical Society noted that the symbols could be removed even though the courthouse is listed (since 1979) on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. "But she said they should stay and that people need to see the symbols in their historical context." In September 2009, court officials decided to leave the tiles in place.

The San Mateo County History Museum, a "regional history center" in Redwood City, California

Redwood City, California

Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...

is housed in the former county courthouse, built in 1910 and designed "to look as impressive as San Francisco City Hall.". The mosaic tile floor in the rotunda includes swastika designs. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

and the museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

The A.K. Smiley Public Library in Redlands, California

Redlands, California

Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The city is located east of downtown San Bernardino.- History :...

, built in 1894, includes a swastika tile floor design. The building is has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

since 1976.

Swastika tiles are visible at the San Diego Mission Beach Plunge swimming pool, which opened in 1925.

The Plays and Players Theatre

Plays and Players Theatre

Plays and Players Theater, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the oldest nonprofessional theater companies in the United States, founded in 1911. The theater building was designed and constructed in 1912 by Philadelphia architect Amos W. Barnes as a dramatic school, but soon was used as a...

, built in 1912 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, has colored swastika floor tiles. The theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1973.

In the 2007 film "1408" based on the Stephen King story of the same name, there is a scene in the fictional Dolphin Hotel lobby in which a Swastika can plainly be seen in the tiles in the floor.

A New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

Subway station at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

featured a 1904 ceramic mosaic design with a border of swastikas.

The Anti-Defamation League

Anti-Defamation League

Law Enforcement Resource Network describes the swastika in its visual database of extremist symbols, with only a vague reference to its use by religious groups, but specifics about left and right facing symbols.
"When shown in a counterclockwise direction, an ancient religious symbol that represented a sign of good luck."

"Prior to the Nazis co-opting this symbol, it was known as a good luck symbol and was used by various religious groups. Hitler made the Nazi swastika unique to his party by reversing the normal direction of the symbol so that it appeared to spin clockwise."
Using the definition the ADL

Anti-Defamation League

has provided to law enforcement agencies, most of the historic tiles listed above could be classified as extremist symbols because their arms are not in what the ADL calls the "normal" orientation, regardless of their date of origin.

Miscellaneous use

The 44-foot luxury yacht Lady Isabel is the centerpiece of the Wisconsin-Built Boat Gallery at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2000 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,053, with over 50,000 residents in the surrounding communities...

. Built in 1907, it was known for decades as the "Swastika", meaning "Well Being". Swastika symbols are visible on the front of a building in the historic area of Manitowoc
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2000 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,053, with over 50,000 residents in the surrounding communities...

, built in 1894 that originally served as a hardware store.

The "Swastika Series" is a name given to a soil type in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

by the US National Cooperative Soil Survey.

In December 2007, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...

displayed a period room decorated for Christmas that included candlesticks with swastika motifs. The room's interior design had been preserved since 1905 and was created by a Minneapolis decorator. "The symbols as seen in the Duluth Room have no Third Reich connotations, but rather refer to the ancient symbol."

Jewish artist Edith Altman, whose family fled Germany in the late 1930s, has produced a traveling exhibit entitled Reclaiming the Symbol. "The work strives to reclaim the star, the cross and the swastika to their positive use.". The exhibit features excerpts from the book "Swastika the Earliest Known Symbol and its Migrations" written by Thomas Wilson and published by the Smithsonian. Wilson's book is frequently cited by other authors. It was the most comprehensive U.S. reference on the subject in the early 20th Century.

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. displays the original propeller spinner from Charles Lindbergh's airplane Spirit of St. Louis
Spirit of St. Louis
The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt...

, manufactured in early 1927. A swastika, leftpointing, was painted on the inside of the spinner cone along with the names of all the Ryan Aircraft Co. employees that built the airplane, presumably as a message of good luck prior to Lindbergh's solo Atlantic crossing.

University faculty at Catholic Jesuit St. Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...

voted to remove a painting by Italian priest Renato Laffranchi in 2004. The painting symbolized four rivers flowing from the Garden of Eden, with gardens in four quadrants. The rivers have the shape of a clockwise swastika with shortened arms. One unnamed faculty member commented "today, a swastika means only one thing. That is hate, intolerance and genocide." Another pointed to differences between the painting's design and the Nazi symbol. "Look it up in the history books. It's not the same symbol." The university's president refused to remove the painting prior to its scheduled annual rotation.

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Photograph of swastika tile floor in Allston a section of Boston, Massachusetts
Allston, Boston, Massachusetts
Allston is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located in the western part of the city. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part, Allston is administered collectively with the adjacent...

, HappyScrappy blog, October 13, 2006.

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