Can anybody tell me the reason why some swastikas are in the kneeling position and some are positioned on their point. Ive searched for this answer to no avail. If you know the answer, it would be very much appreciated.
defining svastika, meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck, the positions are this 卐, 卍 and other is 45 degrees, the swastica its a millenary religious symbol, and represents the sun in motion, but the NationalSocialist gave to the swastica other meaning, and said that the swastica was an arian symbol, this is wrong, the swastica is a universal symbol, chinese, americans, christians, Buddhist, use it as a symbol of lucky
Thanks but its the positions of symbols im interested in why one is sat square and the other diagonal.
That "tilt" was a totally "Hitler" idea for the NSDAP flag. The slight movement from upright to slight turn to clockwise was simply a device to make his/party flag more eye-appealing. At least that is how he describes the process in Mein Kampf. He took the suggestion of a dentist from either Munich or Berlin who had proposed the party flag be a swastika in a white disk on a red background, and simply tilted the swastika so that it stood on a point rather than on a flat for the "look of it".
Swastika in 45 degrees, in mein kampf Hitler Said: the new flag had to be "a symbol of our own struggle" as well as "highly effective as a poster.", Hitler described the Nazis' new flag: "In red we see the social idea of the movement, in white the nationalistic idea, in the swastika the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man, and, by the same token, the victory of the idea of creative work, which as such always has been and always will be anti-Semitic."
Thanks guys, thats great. I often wondered if it was a symbol of work in progress and when hitler had completed his objectives the swastika would have turned 360°. Thats more of a freemason perspective though aint it.
From what I have seen, the party flag adopted the tilt over time. The old banners carried by the SA which stated Deutchland Erwache had the staight swastika. At early NSDAP meetings, the regular banner also had a straight one in photos. By the time of the first big rallies the flag got it's most noted style.
Here is an interesting link to another "theory" as to how the NSDAP came to adopt the swastika as its party flag. Goto: The Swastika and the Nazis And don't forget that the Thule Society also incorporated a "swastika-like" emblem on its pamphlets before WW1, which Hitler was an avid follower and reader of in his Vienna days.
For what its worth... The U.S. 45th Infantry Division used the 'kneeling' Swastika on its Division Patch until the late 1930's in hommage to Native American tribes of the Southwest. Replaced it with a Thunderbird design in response to Hitler's co-opt of the Swastika for the Nazi's.
American pilots also sported them on our Lafayette Escadrille in WW1 as well. They were a "good luck" symbol in the west and a religious symbol in the Far East. One of the Hindu gods had one turning each direction on the soles of its feet.
