Swastika/swastika flag

The swastika flag combined German history and tradition, represented by the old Reich colors of black, white, and red, with the party symbol representing Nazism, which invariably sought to glorify itself as the rebirth of the German nation. The decision to adopt the swastika flag as the national flag and flag of the Reich was promulgated in the ‘Nuremberg laws‘ of September 15, 1935,  which also banned Jews from using it, e.g. when flying flags from buildings. Nazi Party members received a swastika stamped from sheet metal, which they wore visibly on their lapels as a token of their party membership. A song composed by Baldur von Schirach for the ‘Jungvolk’ proclaimed their allegiance to the Nazi movement with the words “Our flag flutters before us”.

Both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels turned their attention to propaganda early on. Hitler was convinced that the Allied victory that ended the First World War was due to their superior war propaganda. His book My Struggle goes into considerable detail regarding the methodical, purposeful choice of a party emblem that would appeal to the ‘movement’s’ existing adherents, attract new ones, and exercise a subliminal influence. In My Struggle, he also claimed to have provided the successful swastika design that had adorned the official party flag since the summer of 1920 and had been used in the title of the Völkischer Beobachter (the Nazi party newspaper) since 1923. Goebbels believed that the propagandistic value of flags was greater than that of written texts. Flags had a mythical significance: the swastika flag carried during the Hitler putsch became known as the ‘Blutfahne’ (Blood Flag) and was used to ‘consecrate’ other swastika flags.

Even in the days of the Weimar Republic, the Nazi Party used a modern, effective concept to promote the ‘movement’. This included propaganda marches, public rallies, the hyping of speeches and speakers, and inflammatory publications in the Nazi press. All this required clear, uniform symbolism that was immediately recognizable and could be repeated ad infinitum. The swastika was ideal for this purpose, not least because of its links with the Germanic tribes, who worshiped it as a symbol of the sun, life (‘wheel of the sun’), good luck, and prosperity, even though various peoples in the Near East, India, China, and Japan had also been ascribing the same meaning to it for thousands of years. It was also a countersymbol to the Christian cross, the Jewish star of David, and the Soviet star. The swastika opened up a broad, universal framework of associations, e.g. as a symbol of the four points of the compass, the four elements, the four seasons, and even the union of man and woman, while the four right-facing ‘hooks’ and the rotational effect betokened dynamism.

The shift from religious symbol to political representation of ethnic chauvinism, German Nationalism, and antisemitism had taken place long before Hitler’s day. Hitler chose the swastika as an identifying symbol because ethnic-chauvinist and racist organizations such as the Thule Society, the Germanic Order, and numerous Free Corps had used it for their ends before him. Furthermore, he had presumably been familiar with it since his youth, as it appears in the heraldic arms of Lambach Abbey, where he had been a choirboy and altar server in the late 1890s. As a symbol, the swastika was so widespread that it was even used by the short-lived antisemitic journal Der Scherer, which was published while Hitler was at school in Linz. The Nazis succeeded in completely appropriating the swastika for themselves; it came to epitomize Nazism like no other symbol, not least because the bold design was visible everywhere. The Allies therefore went to great lengths to remove it from public spaces after 1945.

Today, the swastika is banned in Germany since it is considered an anti-constitutional symbol. It may only be displayed and used for educational purposes or as a means of resistance against anti-constitutional activities.