Nazi symbolism

The emblem of the Nazi Party

The swastika was the main symbol of Nazism and remains strongly associated with it in the Western world.

The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbolism, especially the Hakenkreuz (swastika), which was used as its principal symbol^[1] and, in the form of the swastika flag, became the state flag of Nazi Germany.^[2]

Other symbols employed by the Nazis include:

• the eagle atop swastika, the formal symbol of the Nazi Party
• the SS bolts (), the runic insignia of the Schutzstaffel^[3][4]
• various runes from the runic script, such as the odal rune, and rune-like symbols^[5][6] and the Wolfsangel^[7]
• the black SS uniform
• the brown shirts of the Sturmabteilung
• the death's head insignia of the SS-Totenkopfverbände and concentration camp units^[8]
• Adolf Hitler's personal standard

Nazi flag

Flag of the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany.

The Nazis' principal symbol was the swastika flag. The black-white-red colour scheme is based upon the colours of the flag of the German Empire, the black-white-red colours were commonly associated with anti-Weimar Republic German nationalists after the fall of the German Empire.^[9] The Nazis denounced the black-red-yellow/gold flag of the Weimar Republic - which now is the flag of Germany.^[9] In Mein Kampf Adolf Hitler defined the symbolism of the swastika flag: the red represents the social idea of the Nazi movement, the white disk represents the national idea, and the black swastika, used in Aryan cultures for millennia, represents "the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man, and, by the same token, the victory of creative work."^[10]

Runic letters

From 1933, the Nazi SS badge displayed two "Sig runes".

Note the Algiz-like runes for dates

Letters of the historical runic alphabet and the modern Armanen runes have been used by Nazism and neo-Nazi groups that associate themselves with Germanic traditions, mainly the Sigel, Eihwaz, Tyr^[11] (c.f. Odal^[12][13] (see Odalism) and Algiz^[14] runes.

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The fascination that runes seem to have exerted on the Nazis can be traced to the occult and völkisch author Guido von List, one of the important figures in Germanic mysticism and runic revivalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1908, List published in Das Geheimnis der Runen ("The Secret of the Runes") a set of 18 so-called "Armanen Runes", based on the Younger Futhark, which were allegedly revealed to him in a state of temporary blindness after a cataract operation on both eyes in 1902.

In Nazi contexts, the s-rune is referred to as "Sig" (after List, probably from Anglo-Saxon Sigel). The "Wolfsangel", while not a rune historically, has the shape of List's "Gibor" rune.

Continued use by neo-Nazi groups

Many symbols used by the Nazis have further been appropriated by neo-Nazi groups, including a number of runes. Neo-Nazis also employ various number symbols such as:

• 18, code for Adolf Hitler. The number comes from the position of the letters in the alphabet: A = 1, H = 8.^[15]
• 88, code for Heil Hitler. Again the number comes from the position of the letter H in the Latin alphabet.^[16]
• 14, from the Fourteen Words coined by David Lane, a late 20th-century American white supremacist: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children.^[17]

14 and 88 are sometimes combined with each other (i.e. 14/88, 8814, 1488).^[18]

Gallery

• 

  The swastika flag was composed by Adolf Hitler and was the national flag of Germany 1933–1945

• 

  The Parteiadler of the Nazi Party, design variant

• 

  SS death's head insignia^[1]

• 

  Horizontally aligned Wolfsangel, used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division^[2]

• 

  Odal rune^[3][4]

• 

  Algiz rune

• 

  The sun cross is used as a pseudo-swastika by various neo-Nazi groups

• 

  A variation of the Celtic cross is used in a similar fashion as the sun cross

• 

  The broken sun cross used by the German Faith Movement and the 5th SS Panzer Division^[5][6]

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See also

• Fascist symbolism
• Nazi memorabilia
• Strafgesetzbuch section 86a
• Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel
• Wolfsangel

References

External links

• Hate on Display: A Visual Database of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos
• A collection of forbidden Nazi symbols and emblems of various groups
• symbols used by white supremacists