An ancient hooked-cross symbol with a long history as a sign of good fortune across many cultures, and a separate, more recent history as the central emblem of Nazi Germany.
Also known as: Svastika, Hakenkreuz, Manji, Sauwastika
The swastika is a hooked-cross motif used across Eurasia for at least 7,000 years, and remains to this day a sacred symbol of good fortune and well-being in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and other traditions. In the twentieth century it was separately adopted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party as their central emblem, and in most Western contexts today it is primarily associated with Nazism, antisemitism and hate; its display is legally restricted in some countries when used in that context. Symbolwise covers both histories factually and separately — neither erasing the ancient religious meaning nor omitting the modern hate association that readers need for accurate identification.
The word comes from the Sanskrit 'svastika', meaning 'good fortune' or 'well-being'. The motif has been used across Eurasia for at least 7,000 years, and remains to this day a sacred, auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and other traditions, including Odinism.
This is the symbol's original and, for practitioners of these traditions, continuing meaning — entirely independent of the twentieth-century Nazi appropriation described below.
South, East and Southeast Asia; historically also Europe · c. 5000 BCE to present · Contexts: History, Religion
In early twentieth-century Europe, before its Nazi adoption, the symbol was already in widespread use with various meanings, most commonly as a general sign of good luck and prosperity, partly fuelled by growing European archaeological interest in the ancient Near East and India.
Europe · Late 19th – early 20th century · Contexts: History
Adopted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in the 1920s as their central emblem, and subsequently as the state symbol of Nazi Germany; because of the regime's genocide of six million Jews and other atrocities, the symbol is now primarily associated in most Western contexts with Nazism, antisemitism and hate, distinct from and unrelated to its much older religious meanings.
This is a separate, later appropriation of an ancient symbol by a specific political movement — it does not retroactively define or erase the symbol's much older and unrelated religious meanings, which remain actively practised today.
Germany; wide association in Western countries today · 1920s onward · Contexts: Political movements, History
Public display of the swastika in a context associated with Nazism or other unconstitutional/extremist organisations is a criminal offence in Germany under Strafgesetzbuch section 86a; the same law explicitly treats display in the context of a genuine religious faith — particularly South, South-East and East Asian religions — as lawful, since the prohibition targets the context of use, not the shape itself.
Legal treatment varies by country; this entry describes German law specifically and is not legal advice for any other jurisdiction.
Germany · Contexts: Political movements
Related forms that are not treated as separate canonical symbols — see our variant rules.
Sauwastika (left-facing form)
The mirrored, left-facing orientation, which in some traditions carries a distinct name and connotation from the right-facing form.
Nazi Party Hakenkreuz
The specific black, rotated (45°) form on a white circle and red background formally adopted as the Nazi Party flag and state symbol in the 1920s–1930s — a distinct, specific design within the broader swastika motif family, not identical to every historical or religious rendering.
A cross with each of its four arms bent at a right angle in the same rotational direction, giving it a pinwheel-like appearance.