Use of Swastika Before Nazis

I grew up associating the swastika with Nazi Germany, so I was initially surprised to see one in rendered metal on the gates of a Buddhist building in Toronto, although the orientation was changed by 45 degrees, so that two of the lines were parallel to the ground. I guess I assumed that the Nazis conceived the design.

I also heard of a resort in the Muskoka tourist area of Ontario that was named The Swastika prior to the rise of the Third Reich, but later changed its name and changed the brick facade of the building with featured a swastika.

Are there examples of other organizations abandoning the symbol because of the Nazis?

 

Here is a link to an About.com article on the history of the Swastika.
History of the Swastika
It is interesting to note that the word Swastika is from Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix.. How ironic that the Nazis would use it as a symbol of evil.
Remember the scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", where the crate with the Ark of the Covenant is on the boat, and the fire erupts on the side of the crate burning off the Swastika? Perhaps that was a little commentary from Spielberg who is Jewish, and would later go on to direct "Schindlers' List"

 

Swastika history

The Swastika has long been widely used in major world religions such as Hinduism, Roman Catholicism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Did you know that the Sanskrit term has been in use in English since 1871, replacing 'gammadion'.

 

Geometrically, the swastika can be regarded as an irregular icosagon or 20-sided polygon. The arms are of varying width and are often rectilinear (but need not be). However, the proportions of the Nazi swastika were fixed: they were based on a 5x5 grid.

The Germans adopted the swastika in 1920. This was used on the party's flag (right), badge, and armband. It had also been used unofficially by the NSDAP and its predecessor, the German Workers Party. It was associated with Aryan superiority and as a race emblem of Germanism.

 

There are some very interesting facts contained in here about the swastika. I too, thought that the swastika was originated by the Nazis as their symbol. It's interesting to see that it's not and it's origin goes back farther and doesn't even have anything to do with the concept of "evil." Although I think if you show the symbol to anyone today they will automatically think of it that way.

 

I had no idea there was so much history behind what has grown to be such a symbol of hatred. Very interesing. Thanks for all the good information!

 

Back when I was college student in San Francisco, I worked as a tour guide in Chinatown. One of the places that always caught people's attention was a Buddhist temple. It was there that many saw the swastika for the first time as a symbol of a peaceful religion. All it took was for the Nazi's to adopt the symbol and destroy its truee meaning for all eternity.