Throughout the western world the swastika is the forbidden symbol of the Nazi Party. In some countries displaying anything related to the Nazi party for any reason other than academic will result in eight years of prison. It is reasonable to expect that the pain the symbol represented is still strong even after so many years. What must be understood though is that the Nazi Party appropriated a symbol, that was quite popular throughout the world, for their own purposes. The swastika was a good luck charm for early aviators, a symbol Native Americans, and is prominent in a collection of eastern religions. The popularity was prevalent throughout the United States prior to WWII and its image can be seen on many historic landmarks throughout the country including the Garfield Monument (President James A. Garfield's tomb), the Yale University library, and the entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The rise in popularity of the swastika can be traced to the late 18th century work of Heinrich Schliemann who discovered the symbol at the site of the ancient city of Troy. He noticed startling similarities between the swastikas in Troy and ones found on ancient pots in Germany and theorized that the swastika was a significant religious symbol of remote ancestors. As a result, by the early 20th century, the symbol was used worldwide and considered a symbol of good luck and success.
Trouble arose when the work of Schliemann was used by the völkisch movements which grew out of German romantic nationalism. Soon the swastika became the symbol of the "Aryan race" which was the supposed nordic master race that originated in northern Europe. n 1920 the swastika was adopted as the symbol of the Nazi party. In 1925 Adolph Hitler created a new national flag based on it.
I myself, meanwhile, after innumerable attempts, had laid down a final form; a flag with a red background, a white disk, and a black swastika in the middle. After long trials I also found a definite proportion between the size of the flag and the size of the white disk, as well as the shape and thickness of the swastika.
At the end of WWII the swastika became associated with hate groups, and the original distinction it once held was never restored. Steven Heller, an American art director, journalist, critic, author, editor specializing in graphic design, wrote a book on the possible redemption of the swastika.
It is safe to say that while the swastika maintains the stigma it does in living memory it will never recover from the atrocities in the past that are tied to it.
-Professor Walter
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