Will the Swastika be associated forever with Nazis and white supremacy? -

[c-no]

After coming across an image showing various Swastikas and replies it got saying the argument said image was used for was retarded because it didn't account for symbols to change through history or that no one uses them because they don't want Nazi's blending in (all of these from a tweet about Mackelmore's no longer having a certain haircut because of Nazis) , it made me wonder outside of the tism in social media: Could the swastika can still be used without someone immediately thinking Nazis?

 

[Somsnosa]

If the context of the swastika is obvious, yeah. Greek ceramists still use the swastika as decoration on vases and souvenirs, and I'm sure swastikas on asiatic jewelry and places of cult are no problem.

 

[escapegoat]

It's probably got another 100 years, at least. Basically, if you were a little kid in the 90's, your death of natural causes marks the outermost moment when it might not be instantly Nazi.

All those movies that came out in the mid-90's to early 00's, after the "Greatest Generation" moment, means that a lot of kids in that group definitely will see swastikas=Nazis. Also, right off the top of my head, there's Nazi-esque imagery in 90's cartoons (eg. the hyenas marching in The Lion King), Nazis in Indiana Jones, etc.

It's possible that by 2100, people won't care as much, or in that next 50 years after 2090ish. The holocaust will start to sound like the Irish potato famine.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

The swastika will remain a Nazi symbol as long as Neo-Nazis continue to use it as such.

 

[millais]

Only in the West. Everywhere else in the world, Buddhists and Hindus go on using it as if 1933 never happened.

 

[c-no]

Only in the West. Everywhere else in the world, Buddhists and Hindus go on using it as if 1933 never happened.

More or less. A quick Wikipedia look mentions the symbol still used in places like India.

Much as the tweet I linked (one saying its meaning changed with history and variants are only brought up in pedantic arguments, pictured below) can claim the variations of the Swastika is only used in pedantic arguments, never mind that while the arguments seem pedantic, we do have people that thought the swastika must of meant Nazi despite the fact the swastika was more or less universal (or at least had similar versions) in being found in other cultures.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Like @millais said, in the West quite probably, while in East Asia it's a different story as it's already an established cultural and religious symbol.

For example, there's this one JRPG that casually uses a symbol Westerners would call a swastika in the game logo. Somehow I doubt it'll be localized in the West. Especially not in Germany which bans Nazi symbolism by law.

Spoiler

Speaking of Germany and vidya, there's this one Pokemon game that had a sprite of Registeel edited for the German release because it was originally doing a gesture reminiscent of a Nazi salute -- which was originally a Roman salute.

 

[BadaBadaBoom]

I worked at a place that had little symbols called "whirling logs" that were on some Native American baskets. These had to be kept under Plexiglas to prevent them from being attacked by angry Jews. Not joking - they were attacked once by some very angry Jews

 

[AnOminous]

I worked at a place that had little symbols called "whirling logs" that were on some Native American baskets. These had to be kept under Plexiglas to prevent them from being attacked by angry Jews. Not joking - they were attacked once by some very angry Jews

You'll sometimes see swastikas on old Mason-related buildings. I forget exactly why, but they used it facing in both directions. These buildings were older than the Nazis. I assume they somehow indirectly came from the Hindu use of them.

 

[escapegoat]

There are a few really old bridges in the Southwest that have them.

 

[Zorceror44]

While it's definitely still used and accepted in some places, it's still majorly associated with the Nazis in the west. If the cross can still be associated with Christianity even after almost 2 millenia, I don't think the swastika is going to be distanced from Uncle Adolf any time soon.

That's the thing about symbols. Once they're built up, they're near impossible to break down.