Prior to WW2, the US Army also used it as a divisional shoulder patch (45th Division, IIRC, later replaced by a thunderbird insignia). I also have a Korean Bronze Temple Bell from the Pre-WW2 era which has swastikas all over it--- a very old and honored symbol in many cultures. Doc
45th Div, Doc, we mentioned that before on this thread. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/barracks/6837-what-does-badge-make-you-think.html
Found this on Der Spiegel site Adam linked to. Story is a few months old. Nazi or Nice?: Finns Snap Up Swastika Rings for Christmas - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News A Finnish charity is selling silver rings emblazoned with a swastika to raise money for World War II veterans. The group selling the rings say they bear no relation to the Nazi emblem and that they are just a way for Finland to honor those who fought for the country's independence.
Found this on Der Spiegel site Adam linked to. Story is a few months old. Nazi or Nice?: Finns Snap Up Swastika Rings for Christmas - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News Although swastika was not invented by fuhrer after WWII it is always associated with nazi, unfortunately, and personally when I see swastika I always remember nazi. But today I see that some people trying to restore 'the good image' of swastika (very hard I think) and some trying to restore its bad meaning like those estonian authorities that allowing honouring veterans (hey, do u imagine SS-men marching thru your town?) of their former SS units that fought againts USSR for Estonia'a freedom (for freedom to be nazi probably)..
Also worn by Boy Scouts in this country Baden-Powell: "What Scouts Can Do--More Yarns" It's my understanding that the traditional swastika is square, with its arms vertical and horizontal, whilst the nazi version is tilted. Its connotations were enough to cause the US navy a headache over the design of some of its barracks. CTV.ca | U.S. Navy to spend money on masking swastika snafu
Slightly off subject.... I remember as a kid (a long while ago now!) a school chum of mine, who's family were immigrants/refugees from Latvia...He told me his father/grandfather had been in the "SS". Now there's a very disturbing symbol. I remember even back then being horrified. After all, my grandfather had fought in the British 8th Army, his brother was in the RAF. The "SS" were obviously very bad people (and indeed they weren't generally 'pleasant'). In 1940, the 'bad guy' to the inhabitants of the Baltic States was our mate, Uncle Joe Stalin. In retrospect my school chums father/grandfather just might have been have been conscripted by the Germans (into perhaps the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division) to fight the 'bad guys'. It's a complex world we inhabit isn't it?
Personally I’m just sick of historical revisionism to suit the current agenda of the day , and there’s a new one every day . When and where do you stop ? When did we cease to become rational , knowledgeable adults ?