The swastika is often seen as a symbol of art with cumulative meaning that can be used as a medium of expression. A clamp down on self-expression is a clamp down on freedom. Any government that attempts to do that, especially in a democratic setting, is bound to fail.
The rise of the use of the swastika as a sign of freedom further elucidates the complexity of the topic.
The swastika has been surfacing more in the United States than in Germany. Following the post-war era, Germany has formulated policies that prohibit the public display of the swastika and all other symbols that represent the Nazis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the march that took place recently in Charlottesville, Virginia, calling it racist. She explained that such a thing would not happen in today’s Germany.
America protects the right of neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists and other groups to hold public rallies and openly express their views. In recent times, some of the public rallies protesting against one policy or another have made use of the swastika as a sign of freedom.
Most people in western nations are having a hard time reconciling the history of the swastika with what it is currently known for today. Western nations, in particular, have trouble associating the swastika with anything besides the Nazis. This robs the swastika symbol of its historic identity.
A few of those who were privileged to witness the true identity of the swastika before the rise of the Nazi regime are still alive.
They will know that the swastika is a symbol of good luck and freedom and will not be afraid to wield it as such in public.
A number of those who are not afraid to display the swastika in public, particularly in Western countries, are those who learned the true meaning of the symbol either through oral tradition or through extensive research. The subtle push to reclaim the swastika is mostly spearheaded by these groups of people.
The swastika has featured in old religions like Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, Celts and Romans also used the symbol. One thing is certain; if the swastika was as bad as it is currently portrayed as being, it simply would not have endured through time.
No doubt, the meaning of the swastika has suffered a serious blow due to the misguided representation of fact by Adolf Hitler. Another great problem that the swastika has is that it can have different meaning depending on the way it rotates. The clockwise rotation is seen as a symbol of god Vishnu (a Hindu god) while the counterclockwise orientation of swastika is thought to represent Kali.