Nazi symbolism

{{Multiple image

|align = right

|direction = straight

|width = 150

|header =

|image1 = National_Socialist_swastika.svg

|caption1 = The swastika was the first symbol of Nazism and remains strongly associated with it in the Western world.

}}

The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the swastika, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very similar flag had represented the Party beginning in 1920.

Nazi symbols and additional symbols have subsequently been used by neo-Nazis.

Swastika

The Nazis' principal symbol was the swastika, which the newly established Nazi Party formally adopted in 1920.{{cite web|url=https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007453|publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|title=History of the Swastika|access-date=9 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412111646/https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007453|archive-date=12 April 2018|url-status=live}} The formal symbol of the party was the {{lang|de|Parteiadler}}, an eagle atop a swastika.

The black-white-red motif is based on the colours of the flags of the German Empire. This colour scheme was commonly associated with anti-Weimar German nationalists, following the fall of the German Empire.Hilmar Hoffmann, John Broadwin, Volker R. Berghahn. The Triumph of Propaganda: Film and National Socialism, 1933–1945. Berghahn Books, 1997. Pp. 16. The Nazis denounced the black-red-gold flag of the Weimar Republic (the current flag of Germany).

Heraldry

File:Coat of Arms of Thuringia 1933.svg

{{multiple image

| align = right

| total_width = 320

| image1 = DEU Coburg COA.svg

| alt1 =

| caption1 =

| image2 = Wappen-Coburg-NS-Zeit (neu).svg

| alt2 =

| caption2 =

| footer = The ancient arms of Coburg (left) featured the head of Saint Maurice, a symbol looked down upon by the Nazi party. In 1934, it was replaced by a coat of arms featuring a sword with a swastika on the pommel (right). The original coat of arms was restored in 1945.

}}

Under the Nazi regime, government bodies were encouraged to remove religious symbolism from their heraldry. Few German councils actually changed their often ancient symbols. Some, however, did, including Coburg, which replaced the Moor's head representing Saint Maurice on their arms with a sword and swastika, and Thuringia, which added a swastika to the paws of their lion.{{cite book |last=Slater |first=Stephen |year=2003 |title=The Complete Book of Heraldry: An International History Of Heraldry And Its Contemporary Uses |location= London |publisher=Anness Publishing |page= 212 |isbn= 0754810623}}

Other symbols and insignia

Letters of the Armanen runes invented by Guido von List were used by the SS, particularly the Doppel Siegrune, based on the historical sowilo rune reinterpreted by List to signify 'victory' instead of the sun. Other Armanen runes used by the Nazis and subsequently by neo-Nazis include forms derived from Eihwaz, Tiwaz, Algiz{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo_nazi_life_rune.asp |title=Hate Symbols: Life Rune - From A Visual Database of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121040923/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo_nazi_life_rune.asp |archive-date=21 January 2013 }} and Othala.{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/racist_odin_rune.asp |title=Hate Symbols: Othala Rune - From A Visual Database of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121000710/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/racist_odin_rune.asp |archive-date=21 January 2013 }}

File:Totenkopfring.jpg - replica]]

The death's head appears on the SS-Ehrenring presented by Heinrich Himmler to favored members of the SS, and was used as an insignia by the Death's Head Units of the SS that administered the concentration camps.{{Cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp |title=Hate Symbols: Neo-Nazi Skull and Crossbones |access-date=2008-12-17 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121084719/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp |archive-date=2013-01-21 }}

Units of the Wehrmacht used insignia including the {{lang|de|Wolfsangel}}.{{Cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/Wolfsangel.asp |title=Wolfsangel |access-date=2008-12-17 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217234148/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/Wolfsangel.asp |archive-date=2008-12-17 }}

The Ahnenerbe research unit of the SS also used Wilhelm Teudt's neo-heathen Irminsul symbol.{{cite book |first=Lasse |last=Wichert |title=Personale Mythen des Nationalsozialismus: Die Gestaltung des Einzelnen in literarischen Entwürfen |series=Genozid und Gedächtnis |publisher=Wilhelm Fink |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-7705-6342-5 |language=de |page=154}}

Strasserism, a strand of Nazism with a Third Positionist ideology, used a crossed hammer and sword as its emblem.

Banning of symbols

The public display of Nazi symbols and gestures are today banned by law in many countries, including Australia (since 2024),{{cite web | title=Nazi salute and hate symbols now outlawed | website= Attorney-General's portfolio |publisher= Australian Government| date=8 January 2024 | url=https://ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/nazi-salute-and-hate-symbols-now-outlawed-08-01-2024 | access-date=28 January 2025|quote=It is now unlawful to perform the Nazi salute in public or to publicly display, or trade in, Nazi hate symbols, with the Albanese Government's landmark legislation coming into force today (Monday, 8 January).}} Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany (see Strafgesetzbuch section 86a), Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine.

On August 9, 2018, Germany lifted the ban on the usage of swastikas and other Nazi symbols in video games, allowing "games that critically look at current affairs" to be given an age rating instead by the manufacturer, such as USK. The move was made to bring the legislation in line with films and other arts.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/09/germany-lifts-ban-nazi-symbols-video-games/|newspaper=The Telegraph|title=Germany lifts ban on Nazi symbols in video games|date=9 August 2018|access-date=9 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109062836/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/09/germany-lifts-ban-nazi-symbols-video-games/|archive-date=9 January 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite web|author=Chalk, Andy|date=9 August 2018|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/germany-lifts-ban-on-swastikas-in-videogames/|title=Germany Lifts Ban on Swastikas in Videogames|website=PC Gamer|access-date=9 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109062601/https://www.pcgamer.com/germany-lifts-ban-on-swastikas-in-videogames/|archive-date=9 January 2019|url-status=live}}

Usage by neo-Nazi groups

Many symbols used by the Nazis have further been appropriated by neo-Nazi groups, including a number of runes: the so-called Black Sun, derived from a mosaic floor in Himmler's remodel of Wewelsburg; and the Celtic cross, originally a symbol used to represent pre-Christian and Christian European groups such as the Irish.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

Neo-Nazis also employ various number symbols:

18, code for Adolf Hitler. The number comes from the position of the letters in the alphabet: A = 1, H = 8.{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/numbers_18.asp |title=Hate Number Symbols: 18 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115180438/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/numbers_18.asp |archive-date=15 November 2012 }}
88, code for "Heil Hitler", a phrase used in the Nazi salute.{{cite web |url=https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/1488 |title=Hate Number Symbols: 88 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=20 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406170324/https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/1488 |archive-date=6 April 2018 |url-status=live }} Also used as a reference to the "88 Precepts", a manifesto written by white supremacist David Lane.
14, from the Fourteen Words coined by David Lane: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/numbers_14words.asp |title=Hate Number Symbols: 14 (words) |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026130724/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/numbers_14words.asp |archive-date=26 October 2012 }}
14 and 88 are sometimes combined with each other (i.e. 14/88, 8814, 1488).{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/numbers_14-88.asp |title=Hate Number Symbols: 14/88 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026125752/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/numbers_14-88.asp |archive-date=26 October 2012 }} They are also sometimes depicted on dice.{{cite news|last1=Willingham|first1=A.J.|title=These are the new symbols of hate|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/28/us/hate-symbols-changing-trnd|access-date=20 March 2018|publisher=CNN|date=22 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320231921/https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/21/us/hate-symbols-changing-trnd/index.html|archive-date=20 March 2018|url-status=live}}

In 1997, Wolfgang Fröhlich, a Holocaust denier{{cite magazine|last=Vessely|first=Rebecca|title=Germany restricts internet content|url=https://www.wired.com/1996/12/germany-restricts-internet-content/|magazine=Wired|date=12 November 1996|access-date=30 August 2018|archive-date=21 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921044121/https://www.wired.com/1996/12/germany-restricts-internet-content/|url-status=live}} and former district council member for the Freedom Party of Austria, alleged that Adolf Hitler's favorite food was egg dumplings (Eiernockerl).{{cite news|title=Some Austrians celebrated 4/20 by eating Hitler's favorite dish|url=https://www.jpost.com/International/Some-Austrians-celebrate-420-by-eating-Hitlers-favorite-dish-451938|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=21 April 2016|access-date=28 April 2022|archive-date=22 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422075627/https://www.jpost.com/international/some-austrians-celebrate-420-by-eating-hitlers-favorite-dish-451938|url-status=live}} Some restaurants in Austria started advertising the dish as a "daily special" for the 20th of April, which is Hitler's date of birth, and although the allegation about the dish has never been historically confirmed, some neofascists began eating it as a symbolic food to celebrate Hitler's birthday.{{cite news |last=Herbst |first=Hanna |author-link=Hanna Herbst |date=20 April 2016 |title=Hitler-Verehrer servieren zur Feier des Tages Eiernockerl mit Salat |trans-title=Hitler's admirers serve Eiernockerl with salad to celebrate the day |url=https://www.vice.com/de/article/eiernockerl-mit-gruenem-salat-an-hitlers-geburtstag/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831035326/https://www.vice.com/de_at/article/yvkypj/eiernockerl-mit-gruenem-salat-an-hitlers-geburtstag |archive-date=31 August 2018 |access-date=30 August 2018 |work=Vice |language=de}}

Gallery

File:Parteiadler Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (1933–1945).svg|The {{lang|de|Parteiadler}} of the Nazi Party (1933–1945)

File:Totenkopf.svg|SS death's head insignia{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp |title=Hate Symbols: Neo-Nazi Skull and Crossbones |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121084719/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_skull.asp |archive-date=21 January 2013 }}

File:Wolfsangel.svg|Horizontally aligned {{lang|de|Wolfsangel}}, used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/Wolfsangel.asp |title=Wolfsangel |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121000444/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/Wolfsangel.asp |archive-date=21 January 2013 }}

File:Wolfsangel 1.svg|Vertically aligned {{lang|de|Wolfsangel}}, used by the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division

File:Nazi Odal rune.svg|Winged Odal,{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/racist_odin_rune.asp |title=Hate Symbols: Othala Rune - From A Visual Database of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121000710/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/racist_odin_rune.asp |archive-date=21 January 2013 }} used by the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division (also used by the American-based "National Socialist Movement" from November 2016 until 2019){{cite news|last1=Kovaleski|first1=Serge|last2=Turkewitz|first2=Julie|last3=Goldstein|first3=Joseph|last4=Barry|first4=Dan|title=An Alt-Right Makeover Shrouds the Swastikas|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/us/alt-right-national-socialist-movement-white-supremacy.html|access-date=12 December 2016|work=The New York Times|date=10 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212013019/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/us/alt-right-national-socialist-movement-white-supremacy.html|archive-date=12 December 2016|url-status=live}}

File:Schutzstaffel SS.svg|SS Doppel Siegrune, based on the sig Armanen rune, in turn based on the historical sowilo rune

File:Algiz.svg|Algiz rune

File:Iron Cross (1939).svg|Iron Cross (1939 version)

File:Celtic-style crossed circle.svg|A simplified version of the Celtic cross, as used by various neo-Nazi groups

File:Sun Cross Swastika.svg|The broken sun cross used by the German Faith Movement and the 5th SS Panzer Division, also used by the Thule Society{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/racist_celtic_cross.asp |title=Hate Symbols: Celtic Cross |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=23 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121040957/http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/racist_celtic_cross.asp |archive-date=21 January 2013 }}

File:Strasserism Hammer and Sword.svg|The Hammer and Sword utilized by adherents of Strasserism

File:Black Sun.svg|The Black Sun used by Esoteric Nazi circles and other neo-Nazi groups

File:Black Sun 2.svg|A variation of the Black Sun used by Esoteric Nazi circles and other neo-Nazi groups

References

Category:Fascist symbols

Category:Swastika