tetragammadion | IDTG http://www.idtg.org/archive/tag/tetragammadion/?

wpmp_switcher=mobile

IDTG
Kimon Andreou's blog on heraldry, genealogy, history and other things

sitemap

Posts tagged ‘tetragammadion’

Controversial arms: The swastika in

heraldry
De ce m be r 12, 2008, 8:00

Boreyko coat of arms

Arms of Leonard Chamberlayne

We all know that heraldry s tarted s ometime during the M iddle

A ges , pos s ibly around the 1 2 th c entury and thus it predates all of
the modern s ens itivities . Sens itivities developed bec aus e of
events that oc c urred over the c enturies or bec aus e our s oc iety
has c hanged and what was normal and ac c epted before, today is
c ons idered wrong, deplorable and even c riminal.

M uc h of the heraldry of the world was c reated before any of thes e

norms developed and therefore many would be c ons idered
c ontrovers ial today and very few, if any, pros pec tive armigers of
today would adopt s uc h arms .

P erhaps one of the mos t c ontrovers ial

images in the world today is that of the
s was tika, the hated s ymbol of the N azi
regime. A s ymbol us ed by the N azi 3 rd
Reic h res pons ible for the des truc tion of
E urope during World War 2 , the death of
millions , c ountles s atroc ities and the H oloc aus t. A truly dark and
disgracef ul period of human history that should never again be
repeat ed.

H owever, what may s urpris e many wes terners , is that the s ymbol
of the s was tika has a more benign manifes tation as well. I n the
his toric al rec ord, we find it in areas s uc h as G reec e, I ran and the
I ndus valley. I t appears to have been a very c ommon pattern, due

1 de 3 28/06/19 12:18
tetragammadion | IDTG http://www.idtg.org/archive/tag/tetragammadion/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

to its s implic ity. M oreover, the s ymbol us ed to be

c alled by it’s G reek name of gammadion or
tetragammadion (named thus due to the s imilarity to
the G reek letter “gamma” Γ) until the 1 9 th c entury.

I n eas tern religions , the s was tika is a s ymbol of the

c reator god Brahma (in H induis m) and of D harma or
univers al harmony (in Buddhis m). M os t s urpris ing to
today’s s oc iety is the us e of the s was tika pattern in
J udais m! I t has appeared in Kabbalis tic work by Rabbi
E liezer Fis c hl and even on the floor of the s ynagogue
at E in G edi in pres ent day I s rael, built 3 rd c entury A D .

E ven in the A meric as , the s ymbol was widely us ed

among the native tribes and dis played it with pride on
their c lothing and els ewhere.

C oming bac k to E urope, we find the s was tika s hape in

various ornaments in G ermany (pre- N azis m), Slavic
c ountries , Finland and the Bas que c ountry of the
I berian penins ula. O ther names given to the s was tika
or s imilar patterns in E urope is the “fylfot”, “kolovrat”,
“s warzyc a” and “labauro”.

Knowing this his tory of the s ymbol,

tarnis hed by N azis m, we c an then
unders tand how it ended up on the
c oats of arms of various families , towns
and regions . H owever, when blazoning a
c oat of arms , the term for this s ymbol is
us ually “fylfot” or even “c ros s c ramponned” or
“c ramponnée” or “c ramponny”; in other words , a c ros s
potent with one arm of eac h “T ” ending being broken
off.

Finland has a s pec ial his tory with this s ymbol as it is

evidenc ed by its c ontinued us e by offic ial
organizations of the government and military.

2 de 3 28/06/19 12:18
tetragammadion | IDTG http://www.idtg.org/archive/tag/tetragammadion/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

Standard of the Finnish Air Force

Academy

Presidential standard of Finland

Ta gs: co ntro ve rsia l a rm s , C o ntro ve rsia l

a rm s: T he swa stik a in he ra ldry,
C o ntro ve rsia l he ra ldry, cra m po nné e ,
cra m po nny, cro ss cra m po nne d , fylfo t,
ga m m a dio n, He ra ldry, swa stik a ,
swa stik a s in he ra ldry,
te tra ga m m a dio n, T he swa stik a in
he ra ldry
C a te go ry: C o ntro ve rsia l a rm s ,
He ra ldry | C o m m e nt

3 de 3 28/06/19 12:18