The earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the
Indus Valley Civilization of
Ancient India as well as
Classical Antiquity. Swastikas have also been used in various other ancient civilizations around the world. It remains widely used in
Indian religions, specifically in
Hinduism,
Buddhism, and
Jainism, primarily as a tantric symbol to evoke
shakti or the sacred symbol of auspiciousness. The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. The swastika literally means "to be good".
In
East Asia, the swastika is a
Chinese character, defined by
Kangxi Dictionary, published in 1716, as "synonym of
myriad, used mostly in Buddhist classic texts"
[1], by extension, the word later evolved to represent eternity and Buddhism.
The symbol has a long history in Europe reaching back to antiquity. In modern times, following a brief surge of
popularity in Western culture, a swastika was adopted as a symbol of the
Nazi Party of
Germany in 1920. The Nazis used the swastika as a symbol of the
Aryan race. After
Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, a right-facing and rotated swastika was incorporated into the Nazi party flag, which was made the state flag of Germany during Nazism. Hence, the swastika has become strongly associated with Nazism and related ideologies such as
fascism and
white supremacism in the
Western world and is now largely
stigmatized there. Notably, it has been outlawed in
Germany and other countries if used as a symbol of Nazism. Many modern political extremists and
Neo-Nazi groups such as the
Russian National Unity use stylized swastikas or similar symbols.