Why was the Nazi Swastika used?

Answer 1

The swastika became an offensive symbol because it was adopted by the Nazis as their symbol.

______

More specifically, the things the Nazis did ruined the symbol. The swastika was used for hundreds - if not thousands of years by followers of Hinduism as a symbol of luck and good fortune. It was also said to attract peace and light.

Answer 2

The swastika was the sign or symbol used by the Nazis when they tried to take over all of Europe. To the Nazis this symbol represented their ideology which they wanted to impose on all of Europe, or all the lands they conquered. As the Nazis lost the WWII this sign became a hateful sign, and represented the evil that the Nazis wanted to impose over the world. The actions of the Nazis, the mass genocides and the Holocaust are associated with this symbol. This symbol also has a psychological affect to all the survivors. The differentiation between Allied army and the Nazis was this symbol and this came to represent evil. Also imagine yourself trying to squint at the tail or belly of a bomber plane or a tank or ships to find this symbol. And if you were in its line of fire, it would be pretty darn bad. So over the course of the war, this symbol imprinted death and that's why today in the civilized world people are offended by it.

Answer 3

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I have heard that there was a very ancient Hindu symbol similar to the swastika, that when it was rotated it would attract the forces of light and peace. Due to Hitler's interest in the occult, the original symbol was reversed so that it would attract dark forces, as opposed to benign.

Answer 4

The modern Klu Klu Klan adopted the Nazi symbols in order to identify with Hitler's philosophy & beliefs that the white race was superior to all others. They adopted the Nazi flag and insignia and mannerisms. This started around 1960's or so.

Answer 5

Because they wanted it to.

It's hard to explain exactly why, unless you accept "Because Hitler was a nutjob" as an explanation. There had been some use of the swastika by earlier German National movements, and Hitler specifically stated it represented "the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man".

It's also possible there was some connection between the swastika and the "double-sig" (angular SS) symbol used by, well, the SS (Shutzstaffel). A swastika sort of vaguely resembles two crossed sig runes, and the sig rune had become associated with the German word sieg (victory).

Answer 6

there are many theories, but it is not known exactly why.