Dear group;
Seeing as how I seem to be in the company of a group of professors on this forum, I therefore feel compelled to add my own observations as to the history and usage of symbols, banners and flags, in order that I might help in clearing up a few common misconceptions.
First, let's review the swastika. The swastika has been used as a religious symbol throughout the ages by various nations and races and it can be seen everywhere, from ancient Hindu temples in India to medieval cathedrals in Europe. Exactly why Adolf Hitler chose the swastika as his partys' symbol has been lost to history, but there is one likely expalnation for it use as the Nazi partys' principal emblem.
In pre-Christian Europe, virtually all tribes throughout Gaul, which is where modern Germany is situated, shared a commonly held belief system in which multiple deities were worshipped. Without exception, these deities all shared a common theme and only their names and to a much lesser extent, their roles were changed. Most Germanic tribes worshipped a group of deities which included Odin, Frey, Thor and many other gods. It was from Thor, who was the god of war, which the swastika most likely originated from. The runic symbol representing Thor was a hammer flying through the air, to represent Thor's hammer that he wielded to strike down his foes. In order to proceed forward, we must now take a step backwards from WWII and examine WWI for just a moment.
World War One saw the coming of a new and terrible type of combat, trench warfare and it quickly turned the battlefields of Europe into a bloody stalemate, with entire armies being slaughtered and not a single inch of real estate having been won or lost. The citizens of the participating countries quickly became alarmed at the huge losses in manpower and in order to distract their minds, the media of the day began glamorizing and romanticizing a new type of warrior, the air ace.
The German media especially embraced their new air aces, as Germany was rapidly sliding into a severe depression and shortages of virtually everything were beginning to become commonplace along with the spiraling value of the German mark. One of these German war aces in particular named Werner Voss caught the eye of the German media as he was young, dashing and brave and he had 48 confirmed victories to his credit, which was good enough to become Germany's 3rd highest ace, with Manfred Von Richtofen (the Red Baron) in 1st with 80 kills and Ernst Udet in 2nd place with 60 kills. In fact, Voss and Richtofen often publicly admitted to the press of the rivalry between them as it seemed to add a heroic flavor to their deeds.
As was typical during the times, Voss chose his own color scheme for his Fokker Tri-plane and his personal livery was black with silver trim. Along the sides of his fuselage, behind the cockpit he had painted a swastika and there are many old photographs and newspaper articles depicting him standing proudly beside his craft with the swastika prominently displayed. He met his untimely end on 23 September 1917, after singlehandedly engaging 7 aircract of the British 56 Squadron, B flight. One notable fact is that all 7 members of B flight were British war aces in their own right. He was shot down by Arthur Rhys Davids after having engaged all seven of the enemy for an estimated 10 minutes and was suffering from what appearing to be a problem with his propellor.
And so it is widely thought that a young Corporal Adolf Hitler, in the Kaiser's Imperial Army, after having read of Voss' exploits and having views the photos, remembered the swastika and elected to use it as his party's emblem. And it came to pass that Werner Voss is credited for having revived the swastika and by using it as a personal emblem during WWI, unwittingly turned it into one of the most feared and hated symbols of modern history. And ironically enough, Werner Voss was also Jewish.
Your friend;
LAMAR