What does the swastika mean in reverse. Nazi swastika meaning

Yes, reader, let's now be puzzled by this question, why did Adolf Hitler make the swastika a symbol of National Socialism ?!

The fact that the swastika - the gamma cross - is an Aryan symbol, most modern people the planet learned, unfortunately, at the suggestion of Hitler. Alas, it happened. The Nazi Fuhrer himself claimed that he was Aryan, and for this reason he had every right to adopt the Aryan swastika.

What this "Aryan" did in history, we all know. Unleashed by him the Second World War(1939-1945) killed only 50 million people of different nationalities and another 100 million people became crippled. And all this atrocity against many peoples was committed under the sign of the Aryan swastika. Here under this sign:

At the same time, it is known that a few decades earlier, the same cross symbol, only with a different direction of bending its ends, was especially revered in the Russian Empire.

Towel. Tarnogsky district Vologda region. Late XIX century.

What did the sign of the swastika symbolize in the minds of Russians?

Why did the last Russian tsar have it with him, and why did ordinary Russians in the recent past also have a swastika in their homes in the form of embroideries and drawings?

If you dig in encyclopedias, you can find the following explanation: "The swastika has been a symbol of well-being for the Slavs since ancient times."

Such a definition explains quite exhaustively why this symbol was once widely used. Was it thought to bring prosperity? Well, who doesn't want to have one?

Once I saw the same swastika signs on ancient clothes stored in the museum. Orthodox priests. This museum is located in the Novodevichy Bogoroditsa-Smolensky Monastery.

Personally, this presence of swastikas on the old clothes of Russian clergy surprised me a little, puzzled me, and then prompted me to think that the swastika is not just"symbol of prosperity", behind this sign-cross lies something more. And I wanted to dig deeper, explore this topic.

In the process of searching, I found out that the words "symbol of prosperity" is just an adjective. A simple example: sometimes at weddings, the groom is given the task of naming 10 adjective words for his bride, and he begins to list: beloved, affectionate, kind, caring, and so on ... So the words "symbol of well-being" are adjectives .. .

I am sure that most modern people who have not conducted such a search like me will never guess that in ancient times the swastika sign was, it turns out, the most important symbol of Christianity!

Yes, yes, the most important!

I will say more: it was the only cross in true Christianity, if true Christianity is understood as the practical activity of Jesus Christ and his 12 disciples-apostles.

So, this symbol of the swastika in the teachings and practice of Jesus Christ graphically denoted God, who is Spirit!

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24).

Have you heard, do you know these words of Christ the Savior?

From the very beginning, this graphic image of the God-Spirit in the form of a swastika filled the Teachings of Jesus Christ with a deep ideological meaning, one might even say a natural science meaning.

The image presented here is dated 2-5 century AD. This drawing (on the left - restored, on the right - a fragment of the original) was found on the wall in the catacombs of Priscilla, in Rome. It is interpreted that the dove here depicts the soul of a deceased righteous man who flew to Paradise to take communion from a vessel with"by the Holy Spirit" . Not to write on the bowl of the word"Holy Spirit"or"spirit", the painter replaced the words with a graphic image - the sign of the swastika.

Reference: Catacombs of Priscilla- Christian underground burials of the II-V centuries in Rome, forming three levels. These catacombs originated in the burial place of the Roman family of the consul Aquilia Glabrius. In the 1st century A.D. e. this family owned vast lands. One of the representatives of this family, Priscilla, was executed by order of the emperor Domitian. In the Greek chapel (Italian Capella Greca), named after the discovered inscriptions on Greek, depicts a feast scene (an allegory of the Eucharist). This chapel contains examples of early Christian art, including ancient image Virgin Mary with a baby in her arms and the prophet Isaiah or Balaam, dating from the 2nd century.

Exactly the same vessel"by the Holy Spirit" who guard birds of paradise, was depicted in an old mosaic floor painting, also related to early Christian art. And here we also see the swastika. This image is a screen capture from a documentary about Christianity in the early centuries. In 2016 it was featured on Russian TV channel"Culture".

And now you will see a completely interesting mosaic floor picture of one of the early Christian churches. To be honest, this picture really impressed me!

This is a swastika on a mosaic floor in a Christian church built in the city of Geras (Jerash) in the Northern Jordan in 553. Orthodox Church"Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian".

This floor mosaic picture shows multiple images of swastikas moving in all directions! So the early Christian artist tried to convey through painting the meaning that was previously clear to every believing Christian: "Holy Spirit" moves in space, and in movement he performs some kind of sacred action known only to him.

In the presented picture, we find a swastika in the form of such "bricks" different directions rotation in the projection - left-handed and right-handed.

If a simple flat sign of the swastika symbolizes some kind of rotation around its axis in one direction or another, then creating a similar three-dimensional image of the swastika, the ancient Orthodox artist tried to show some kind of "spiritual movement" in space, in which one can guessspiral movement!

This mosaic picture testifies that in ancient times the first Christians had a natural-scientific idea of"Holy Spirit" !

And there is evidence (practically proof!) that the ancients saw physical meaning"Holy Spirit" - in its spiral movement!

In the language of ancient scientists - Latin - the word spiral (spiralis from spira) - means "coil, curl". And the word spiro translated from the same Latin into Russian - means "to blow, winnow, be alive."

I note that in the old days the people in Russia image "gamma cross" did not call "swastika", but called the word "breeze". Which completely coincides with the meaning of "to blow, winnow, be alive." This can be read historian Roman Bagdasarov.

Now attention! "Holy Spirit" in Latin - Spiritus Sanctus.

As you can see, the root is the same everywhere - "spir", and therefore the meaning is the same!

These are the miracles that are opening up for someone (for me they have been opened for a long time!) centuries after the birth of Christ!!!

And now we are all being convinced, and many have already been convinced, literally forced to believe that main symbol Christianity is the cross on which, according to the Gospels, the Savior was crucified. And no one among the believers thinks (there is faith - no mind is needed?) That it is blasphemy - to turn the object or instrument of killing a holy person into a symbol of faith. However, today, alas, Christians of all denominations, after the war unleashed by Adolf Hitler, revere only the wooden cross-crucifix, well, the golden cross-crucifix that they hang around their necks, as a symbol of Christianity. And if you think about it, this cross is nothing more than a symbol of the torment and death of one of the great enlighteners.

It is phenomenal that many people today literally look at the swastika with fear, and at the same time, the crucifixion of Christ the Savior on display does not frighten or shock them at all!

Roman play called: "Look, Christians, what we have done to your God!"

Do you think Adolf Hitler did not know about the real sacred sense swastikas when he took it as a symbol of Nazism and World War II?!

Do you think he did not know that in early Christianity it was a symbol of God, who is a spirit?

Of course he did! He had a powerful organization "Ahnenerbe", which was specially created back in 1935 for "studying the traditions, history and heritage of the German race with the aim of occult and ideological support for the functioning of the state apparatus of the Third Reich".

And if he knew everything, then what?

Why is the early Christian symbol of God, a symbol of well-being, (a symbol of receiving a blessing!), Which in pre-revolutionary Russia was a holy symbol, why did he use it to June 22, 1941, on the day summer solstice, commit perfidious attack on the USSR?

Pay attention to the word "treacherous", and to the fact that Hitler planned the attack on the USSR on a holy day for the sun-worshipping Slavs. It was, firstly, the summer solstice, and secondly, it was Sunday!

In 1941, in the reports of the Sovinformburo about Germany's treacherous attack on the USSR has been said more than once, and every soviet man understood it in his own way. Most, of course, thought that this word referred to the political relationship and agreements between Stalin and Hitler. In part, this was true. But it was even more true in a religious sense: using the swastika as a symbol of war and Nazism, Adolf Hitler acted literally as the Anti-Christ. That was the biggest treachery on his part...

Perfidy in the sense that he used the symbol of the Christian God to kill millions of people...

Continuation of the topic in a separate article "DEVIL'S LAIR: The Truth About Switzerland, Zionism and the Jews!"

The urban legend of the Soviet pioneers said that the swastika is the four letters G assembled in a circle: Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, Himmler. The children did not think that the German Gs are actually different letters - H and G. Although the number of leading Nazis on G really went off scale - you can also remember Groe, and Hess, and many others. But it's better not to remember.

The German Nazis used this sign even before Hitler came to power. And why they showed such interest in the swastika is not at all surprising: for them it was an object of mystical power, originally from India, from the original Aryan territories. Well, it also looked beautiful, and the leaders of the National Socialist movement always attached great importance to aesthetics.

A statue of an Indian elephant with a swastika on the grounds of the old Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen. The statue has nothing to do with Nazism: pay attention to the dots near the center

If we consider the swastika not as part of patterns and drawings, but as an independent object, then its first appearance dates back to about the 6th-5th centuries BC. It can be seen on objects found at excavations in the Middle East. Why is it customary to call India the birthplace of the swastika? Because the word "swastika" itself is taken from Sanskrit (literary ancient Indian language), means "well-being", and purely graphically (according to the most common theory) symbolizes the Sun. Four-pointedness is far from obligatory for her, there is also a wide variety of angles of rotation, inclination of the rays and additional patterns. In the classical Hindu form, she is usually depicted as in the figure below.

There are many interpretations of which way the swastika should rotate. Even their division into female and male is discussed, depending on the direction

Due to the high popularity of the Sun among people of all races, it logically developed that the swastika is an element of symbolism, writing and graphics among hundreds and hundreds of ancient peoples scattered all over the planet. Even in Christianity, she found her place, and there is an opinion that the Christian cross is her direct descendant. Family traits are really easy to see. In our dear Orthodoxy, swastika-like elements were called "gamma cross" and were often used in the design of temples. True, now it is not so easy to find their traces in Russia, since after the start of the Great Patriotic War, even harmless Orthodox swastikas were eliminated.

Orthodox gamma cross

The swastika is such a widespread object of world culture and religion that it is rather surprising that it rarely appears in the modern world. Logically, it should follow us everywhere. The answer is really simple: after the collapse of the Third Reich, she began to cause such unpleasant associations that they got rid of her with unprecedented zeal. This is amusingly reminiscent of the story of the name Adolf, which was extremely popular in Germany at all times, but almost disappeared from use after 1945.

Craftsmen have adapted to find the swastika in the most unexpected places. With the advent of open access to space images of the Earth, the search for natural and architectural incidents has become a kind of sport. The most popular object for conspiracy theorists and swastikophiles is the naval base building in San Diego, California, designed in 1967.

The US Navy spent 600 thousand dollars to somehow rid this building of the resemblance to the swastika, but the final result is disappointing

The Russian Internet and some railway station trays are crammed with all sorts of interpreters of Slavic pagan swastikas, where it is meticulously explained in pictures what “yarovrat”, “svitovit” or “salting” means. Sounds and looks exciting, but keep in mind that there is no scientific basis for these myths at all. Even the term "Kolovrat", which has come into use, supposedly Slavic name swastikas, is a product of speculation and myth-making.

A beautiful example of a rich Slavophile fantasy. Pay special attention to the name of the first swastika on the second page.

Outlandish mystical powers are attributed to the swastika, hence it is understandable that people who are suspicious, superstitious or prone to the occult are interested in it. Does it bring happiness to the wearer? Think for yourself: Hitler used her both in the tail and in the mane, and ended up so badly that you would not wish the enemy.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was a great lover of swastikas. She drew the symbol wherever her pencils and paints reached, especially in the rooms of her children, so that they would grow up healthy and not grieve about anything. But the empress was shot by the Bolsheviks along with the whole family. The conclusions are obvious.

08.04.2011

Many people associate the Swastika with Fascism and Hitler. This opinion has been hammered into the heads of people for the last 60 years. Few people now remember that the Swastika was depicted on Soviet money from 1917 to 1922, that on the sleeve patches of soldiers and officers of the Red Army in the same period, there was also a Swastika in a laurel wreath, and inside the Swastika were the letters of the RSFSR. There is even an opinion that Comrade I.V. Stalin himself presented the Swastika to Hitler in 1920.

The history of the swastika goes back thousands of years...

History of the swastika

The swastika symbol is a rotating cross with curved ends pointing clockwise or counterclockwise. As a rule, now all over the world all Swastika symbols are called in one word - SWASTIKA, which is fundamentally wrong, because. each Swastika symbol in ancient times had its own name, purpose, Guardian Power and Figurative meaning.

Swastika symbolism, as the most ancient, is most often found during archaeological excavations. More often than other symbols, it was found in ancient burial mounds, on the ruins of ancient cities and settlements. In addition, swastika symbols were depicted on various details of architecture, weapons, clothing and household utensils among many peoples of the world. Swastika symbolism is ubiquitous in ornamentation as a sign of Light, Sun, Love, Life.

The oldest archaeological artifacts depicting swastika symbols now date back to approximately 4-15 millennium BC. (on the right is a vessel from the Scythian Kingdom 3-4 thousand BC). According to the materials of archaeological excavations, Russia is the richest territory for the use of the swastika for both religious and cultural purposes. Neither Europe, nor India, nor Asia can compare with Russia in the abundance of swastika symbols covering Russian weapons, banners, national costumes, household utensils, household and agricultural items, as well as houses and temples. Excavations of ancient mounds, cities and settlements speak for themselves - many ancient Slavic cities had a clear shape of the Swastika, oriented to the four cardinal points. This can be seen in the example of Arkaim, Vendogard and others.

The swastika and swastika-solar symbols were the main elements of the most ancient Proto-Slavic ornaments.

Swastika symbolism in various cultures

But not only Aryans and Slavs believed in the mystical power of swastika patterns. The same symbols were found on clay vessels from Samarra (the territory of modern Iraq), which date back to the 5th millennium BC. Swastika symbols in left-handed and right-handed forms are found in the pre-Aryan culture of Mohenjo-Daro (Indus River basin) and ancient China around 2000 BC e. In Northeast Africa, archaeologists have found a burial stele of the Meroz kingdom, which existed in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. The fresco on the stele depicts a woman entering the afterlife, and the Swastika flaunts on the clothes of the deceased.

The rotating cross also adorns the golden weights for scales that belonged to the inhabitants of Ashanta (Ghana), and the clay utensils of the ancient Indians, beautiful carpets woven by the Persians and Celts. Man-made belts created by the Komi, Russians, Sami, Latvians, Lithuanians and other peoples are also filled with swastika symbols, and at present it is difficult even for an ethnographer to figure out which of the peoples to attribute these ornaments to. Judge for yourself.

The swastika symbolism from ancient times has been the main and dominant among almost all peoples on the territory of Eurasia: Slavs, Germans, Mari, Pomors, Skalvians, Curonians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Mordovians, Udmurts, Bashkirs, Chuvashs, Indians, Icelanders, Scots and many others.

In many ancient Beliefs and religions, the Swastika is the most important and brightest cult symbol. So, in ancient Indian philosophy and Buddhism, the Swastika is a symbol of the eternal cycle of the universe, a symbol of the Buddha Law, to which everything that exists is subject. (Dictionary "Buddhism", M., "Republic", 1992); in Tibetan Lamaism - a security symbol, a symbol of happiness and a talisman.

In India and Tibet, the Swastika is depicted everywhere: on the walls and gates of temples, on residential buildings, as well as on the fabrics in which all sacred texts and tablets are wrapped. Very often, sacred texts from the Book of the Dead are framed with swastika ornaments, which are written on burial covers before kroding (cremation).

You can observe the image of many Swastikas both on an old Japanese engraving of the 18th century, and on the matchless mosaic floors in the halls of the St. Petersburg Hermitage.

But you will not find any messages about this in the media, because they have no idea what the Swastika is, what ancient figurative meaning it carries, what it has meant for many millennia and means now for the Slavs and Aryans and many peoples inhabiting our Earth.

The swastika among the Slavs

Swastika among the Slavs- this is "Solar" symbolism, or in other words "Solar" symbolism, which means the rotation of the Solar circle. The word Swastika also means "Heavenly Movement", Sva - Heaven, Tik - Movement. Hence the names Slavic gods: the bird Mother Sva (the patroness of Rus'), the god Svarog and finally Svarga - the habitat of the bright gods Slavic myths. Swastika translated from Sanskrit (under one of the versions of Sanskrit - Old Russian Slavic language) "Svasti" - Greeting, wish of good luck.

They believed in the swastika as a talisman, "attracting" good luck. In ancient Rus', it was believed that if you draw Kolovrat on your palm, you will definitely be lucky. The swastika was also painted on the walls of the house, so that happiness reigned there. In the Ipatiev House, where the family of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II was shot, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna painted all the walls with this divine symbol, but the swastika did not help against the atheists. Nowadays, philosophers, dowsers and psychics suggest building city blocks in the form of swastikas - such configurations should generate positive energy. By the way, these conclusions have already been confirmed by modern science.

Under Peter I, the walls of his country residence were decorated with swastikas. The ceiling of the throne room in the Hermitage is also covered with a sacred symbol. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the swastika became the most common amulet symbol in Russia, Western and Eastern Europe - the influence of the "Secret Doctrine" of E.P. Blavatsky, the teachings of Guido von List, etc. For thousands of years, common people have used swastika ornaments in everyday life, and at the beginning of this century, interest in swastika symbols also appeared among those in power. IN Soviet Russia Since 1918, the sleeve patches of the Red Army fighters of the South-Eastern Front have been decorated with a swastika with the abbreviation R.S.F.S.R. inside.

After the overthrow of the autocracy, the Swastika appears on the new banknotes of the Provisional Government, and after October 1917 - on the banknotes of the Bolsheviks. Now few people know that matrices with the image of Kolovrat (Swastika) against the background of a double-headed eagle were made by special order and sketches of the last king Russian Empire- Nicholas II.

Beginning in 1918, the Bolsheviks introduced new banknotes in denominations of 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 rubles, which depicted not one swastika, but three. Two smaller ones - in the side ties and a large Swastika - in the middle. Money with the Swastika was printed by the Bolsheviks and was in use until 1922, and only after the formation Soviet Union were taken out of circulation.

Swastika symbols

Swastika symbols carry a huge secret meaning. They have great wisdom. Each swastika symbol opens before us the Great picture of the universe. Ancient Slavic-Aryan Wisdom says that our galaxy has the shape of a Swastika and is called SWATI, and the Yarila-Sun system, in which our Midgard-Earth makes its way, is located in one of the arms of this heavenly Swastika.

In Rus' there were 144 species swastika symbols : Swastika, Kolovrat, Salting, Holy Gift, Svasti, Svaor, Solstice, Agni, Fash, Mara; Inglia, Solar Cross, Solard, Vedara, Svetolet, Fern Flower, Perunov Color, Swati, Race, Bogovnik, Svarozhich, Svyatoch, Yarovrat, Odolen-Grass, Rodimich, Charovrat, etc. One could still enumerate, but it is better to consider further briefly several solar swastika symbols: their style and figurative meaning.

The eradication of the swastika

In the second half of the 20th century, in America, Europe and the USSR, they began to decisively eradicate this Solar symbol, and they eradicated it in the same way as they had previously eradicated: the ancient folk Slavic and Aryan Culture; ancient Faith and folk traditions the true Heritage of the Ancestors, undistorted by the rulers, and the long-suffering Slavic people, the bearer of the ancient Slavic-Aryan Culture.

And even now, the same people or their descendants are trying to ban any kind of rotating Solar Crosses, but using different pretexts: if earlier this was done under the pretext of class struggle and anti-Soviet conspiracies, now it is a fight against the manifestation of extremist activity.

One generation replaces another, collapse government systems and regimes, but as long as the People remembers their Ancient Roots, honors the traditions of their Great Ancestors, retains its ancient culture and symbols, until that time the People are ALIVE and will LIVE!

For those readers who wish to receive more information about the Swastika, we recommend the Ethnoreligious essays of Roman Vladimirovich Bagdasarov "The Mystic of the Fiery Cross" and others.

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The swastika is the oldest and most widely used graphic symbol in the world. The cross with the ends turned down adorned the facades of houses, coats of arms, weapons, jewelry, money and household items. The first mention of the swastika dates back to the eighth millennium BC.

This sign has a lot of meanings. Ancient peoples considered it a symbol of happiness, love, sun and life. Everything changed in the 20th century, when the swastika became a symbol of Hitler's rule and Nazism. Since then, people have forgotten about the primitive meaning, and they only know what Hitler's swastika means.

The swastika as an emblem of the fascist and Nazi movement

Even before the Nazis entered the political arena in Germany, the swastika was used by paramilitary organizations as a symbol of nationalism. This sign was mainly worn by the fighters of the G. Erhardt detachment.

Hitler, as he himself wrote in a book called "My Struggle", claimed to have planted a symbol of superiority in the swastika. Aryan race. Already in 1923, at a Nazi congress, Hitler convinced his brethren that the black swastika on a white and red background symbolizes the fight against Jews and communists. Everyone began to gradually forget its true meaning, and starting from 1933, people associated the swastika exclusively with Nazism.

It is worth considering that not every swastika is the personification of Nazism. The lines should intersect at 90 degrees and the edges should be folded into right side. The cross must be placed against a white circle surrounded by a red background.

After the end of World War II, in 1946, the Nuremberg Tribunal equated the distribution of the swastika with a criminal offense. The swastika has become banned, this is indicated in paragraph 86a of the German penal code.

As for the attitude of the Russians to the swastika, Roskomnadzor canceled the punishment for its distribution without propaganda purposes only on April 15, 2015. Now you know what Hitler's swastika means.

A variety of scholars put forward hypotheses related to the fact that the swastika denotes flowing water, female, fire, air, moon and worship of the gods. Also, this sign acted as a symbol of the fruitful land.

Left-handed or right-handed swastika?

Some scientists believe that there is no difference in which direction the bends of the cross are directed, but there are also experts who have a different point of view. You can determine the direction of the swastika both at the edges and at the corners. And if two crosses are drawn side by side, the ends of which are directed in different directions, it can be argued that this “set” personifies a man and a woman.

If speak about Slavic culture, then one swastika denotes movement towards the sun, and the other against it. In the first case, happiness is meant, in the second, unhappiness.

On the territory of Russia, the swastika was repeatedly found in various designs (three, four and eight beams). It is assumed that this symbolism belongs to the Indo-Iranian tribes. A similar swastika was also found on the territory of such modern countries as Dagestan, Georgia, Chechnya ... In Chechnya, the swastika flaunts on many historical monuments, at the entrance to the crypts. There she was considered a symbol of the Sun.

An interesting fact is that the swastika that we are used to seeing was a favorite symbol of Empress Catherine. She painted him everywhere she lived.

When the revolution began, the swastika became popular among artists, but the People's Commissar quickly expelled it, since this symbolism had already become a symbol of the fascist movement, which had just begun to exist.

The difference between the fascist and Slavic swastikas

The most significant difference between the Slavic swastika and the German one is the direction of its rotation. For the Nazis, it goes clockwise, and for the Slavs, it goes against it. In fact, these are far from all the differences.

The Aryan swastika differs from the Slavic in the thickness of the lines and in the background. The number of ends of the Slavic cross can be four or eight.

It is very difficult to name the exact time of the appearance of the Slavic swastika, but it was first discovered at the sites of the settlement of the ancient Scythians. The marks on the walls date back to the fourth millennium BC. The swastika had a different design, but similar outlines. In most cases, it meant the following:

1. Worship of the gods.
2. Self-development.
3. Unity.
4. Home comfort.
5. Wisdom.
6. Fire.

From this it can be concluded that Slavic swastika meant highly spiritual, noble and positive things.

german swastika appeared in the early 1920s. It denotes completely opposite things, in comparison with the Slavic. The German swastika, according to one theory, marks the purity of Aryan blood, because Hitler himself said that this symbolism is dedicated to the victory of the Aryans over all other races.

The Nazi swastika flaunted on captured buildings, uniforms and belt buckles, the flag of the Third Reich.

Summarizing, it can be concluded that fascist swastika made people forget that it also has positive interpretation. All over the world, it is associated precisely with the Nazis, but not with the sun, ancient gods and wisdom ... Museums that have ancient tools, vases and other antiques decorated with a swastika in their collections are forced to remove them from expositions, because people do not understand the meaning of this character. And this, in fact, is very sad ... Nobody remembers that once the swastika was a symbol of the humane, bright and beautiful. For unknowing people who hear the word "swastika", the image of Hitler immediately pops up, pictures of the war and terrible concentration camps. Now you know what the sign of Hitler means in ancient symbolism.

The eagle is one of the most common figures depicted on coats of arms. This proud and strong king bird symbolizes not only power and dominance, but also courage, bravery and insight. In the 20th century, Nazi Germany adopted the eagle as its emblem. Read more about the imperial eagle of the 3rd Reich below in the article.

Eagle in heraldry

For symbols in heraldry, there is a certain, historically established classification. All symbols are divided into heraldic and non-heraldic figures. If the former rather show how different color areas divide the very field of the coat of arms and have an abstract meaning (cross, border or belt), then the latter depict images of objects or creatures, fictional or quite real. The eagle belongs to the natural non-heraldic figures, it is believed that it is the second most common in this category after the lion.

As a symbol of supreme power, the eagle has been known since antiquity. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified him with the supreme gods - Zeus and Jupiter. This is the personification of active solar energy, power and inviolability. Often he became a personification sky god: if the celestial was reincarnated as a bird, then only as majestic as an eagle. The eagle also symbolizes the victory of the spirit over earthly nature: soaring to heaven is nothing but constant development and ascension over one's own weaknesses.

Eagle in the symbolism of Germany

For historical Germany, the king of birds served as a heraldic symbol for a long time. The eagle of the 3rd Reich is just one of its incarnations. The beginning of this story can be considered the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire in 962. The double-headed eagle became the coat of arms of this state in the 15th century, and previously belonged to one of its rulers - Emperor Henry IV. From that moment on, the eagle has always been present on the coat of arms of Germany.

During the period of the monarchy, a crown was placed above the eagle as a symbol of imperial power, during the period of the republic it disappeared. The prototype of the modern one is the heraldic eagle of the Weimar Republic, adopted as a state symbol in 1926, and then restored in the post-war period - in 1950. At the time of the Nazis coming to power, a new image of an eagle was created.

Eagle 3 Reich

After coming to power, the Nazis used the coat of arms of the Weimar Republic until 1935. In 1935, Adolf Hitler himself established a new coat of arms in the form of a black eagle with outstretched wings. This eagle holds a wreath of oak branches in its paws. The swastika is inscribed in the center of the wreath, a symbol borrowed by the Nazis from Eastern culture. The eagle facing to the right was used as state symbols and was called state or imperial - Reichsadler. The eagle, looking to the left, remained as a symbol of the party called Partayadler - the party eagle.

Distinctive features Nazi symbols - clarity, straight lines, sharp corners, which gives the symbols a formidable, even sinister look. This uncompromising sharpness of angles was reflected in any creation of the culture of the Third Reich. A similar gloomy majesty was present in the monumental architectural structures, and even in musical works.

Symbolism of the swastika

More than 75 years have passed since the defeat Nazi Germany, and its main symbol - the swastika - still causes a lot of criticism in society. But the swastika is a much more ancient symbol, only borrowed by the Nazis. It is found in the symbolism of many ancient cultures and symbolizes the solstice - the course of the luminary across the sky. The word "swastika" itself has an Indian origin: in Sanskrit it means "well-being". In Western culture, this symbol was known under other names - gammadion, tetraskelion, filfot. The Nazis themselves called this symbol "Hackenkreuz" - a cross with hooks.

According to Hitler, the swastika was chosen as a symbol of the continuous struggle of the Aryan race for dominance. The sign was rotated 45 degrees and placed in white circle against the background of a red cloth - this is how the flag of Nazi Germany looked like. The choice of the swastika was a very successful strategic decision. This symbol is very effective and memorable, and the one who first gets acquainted with it unusual shape, unconsciously tempted to try to draw this sign.

Since then for ancient sign the time has come for oblivion of the swastika. If earlier the whole world did not hesitate to use a rectangular spiral as a symbol of well-being - from Coca-Cola advertising to greeting cards, then in the second half of the twentieth century the swastika was for a long time expelled from Western culture. And only now, with the development intercultural communication, the true meaning of the swastika is beginning to revive.

Symbolism of the oak wreath

In addition to the swastika, there was another symbol on the coat of arms of the Wehrmacht. The eagle of the 3rd Reich holds in its paws. This image means much more to the German people than the swastika. Oak has long been considered an important tree for the Germans: like laurel wreath in Rome, oak branches became a sign of power and victory.

The image of oak branches was intended to endow the owner of the coat of arms with the power and stamina of this royal tree. For the Third Reich, it became one of the symbols of loyalty and national unity. The symbolism of the leaves was used in the details of uniforms and orders.

Nazi eagle tattoo

Representatives of radical minorities tend to push the degree of their loyalty to the group to the limit. Nazi symbols often become a detail of tattoos, including the eagle of the 3rd Reich. The designation of the tattoo lies on the surface. In order to decide to perpetuate the fascist eagle on your body, you must absolutely share and agree with the views of the National Socialists. Most often, the eagle is applied on the back, then the contours of the wings lie clearly on the shoulders. There are also similar tattoos on other parts of the body, for example, on the biceps or even on the heart.

After the war: the defeated eagle

In several museums around the world, the defeated bronze eagle of the 3rd Reich is displayed as a military trophy. During the capture of Berlin, the Allied forces actively destroyed all kinds of Nazi symbols. Sculptures of an eagle, swastika and others meaningful images knocked down from buildings, especially without ceremony. In Moscow, a similar eagle is shown in ( former name - Central Museum Red Army) and in the Museum Border Guard FSB. The photo below shows a similar bronze eagle on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Eagle of the Wehrmacht without a swastika

Today, the Wehrmacht eagle is still associated with Nazi symbols. The characteristic silhouette and contour make it possible to identify in any seemingly neutral image of a bird an eagle of the Third Reich and without a swastika. For example, in the city of Orel in December 2016, a scandal erupted due to the fact that in the decor of the new benches Nazi symbol. However, the local press notes that such discussions regarding similarity / dissimilarity and associations with the Nazis arise around almost every new image of an eagle, not only in the city of the same name, but in general throughout the country. Remember, for example, the symbol of Special Communications - an eagle with outstretched wings was approved back in 1999. When comparing it with the subject of our article, you can see that the logo really resembles the eagle of the 3rd Reich in the photo.

In addition to that part of the population that perceives any hint of fascist symbols in the logo as a personal insult, there is also a category of people who treat this with humor. A frequent pastime for designers is to cut out the swastika from the image of the coat of arms with an eagle so that anything can be inserted there. Moreover, there are even cartoons where instead of an eagle there can be any other character with wings. For the same reason, the eagle of the 3rd Reich without a background, drawn in vector format, is popular. In this case, it is much easier to "pull" it from the original document and add it to any other image.