SWASTIKA

Week 5 Assignment

The swastika is a recurring symbol which has been interpreted differently across the globe by different civilizations and cultures. It has a positive meaning in some cultures, signifying prosperity and new beginnings while it has negative connotations too and is seen as a hate symbol in some countries.

We associate feelings with visuals around us, icons and colors to be more specific. A red barring traffic light leads to frustration whereas the green one offers relief and a small dose of happiness. A WiFi icon makes everyone happy. We wear symbols like badges in the defense forces which indicate a person’s position in the hierarchy.

Coming back to Swastikas, it was painted over objects for varying reasons, which we will see in the objects below,

 Putting the symbol on a piece of jewelry can indicate that the people use it as a symbol of prosperity or as a talisman. It can even indicate that people have superstitious beliefs and want to avoid evil. It also means people are ready to wear this symbol on their body and not keep statues of it in temples.

A small ivory bird, made from the tusk of a mammoth, found in 1908 in Mezin near the Russian border. It had multiple swastikas carved into it’s midsection.It seems completely decorative here and is made to seem like an organic symbol.

Swastika on Greek columns, these seems to be carved as a repetitive pattern on edges and rather than a motif to fuel the superstition, they appear decorative. Or they may have been used as a band, ring of symbols around the structure to protect it from evil omens.

Swastika is often associated with India and this maybe the reason for it. The motif has been found on a lot of objects. It may indicate signs of wide usage of the symbol for superstitious beliefs, people have swastika shaped seals which mean the swastika was used like an emblem to imprint on various documents.

The swastika appears on an item of luxury, where it sets apart the section of the society. Imprinted on this beautiful piece of jewelry it may have been a symbol for the wealthy, something only they can afford. Becomes a symbol of power in this context.

In all its glory it seems to be simply printed on a piece of cloth. It is a good symbol to look at, follows horizontal and vertical symmetry can be divided in a radial pattern too. It gives the effect of moving forward. Maybe it was used just because it looks good as seen embroidered on the cloth above.

TRIVIA