The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption?

by Steven Heller, Jeff Roth

Examines the history of the graphic image, including its beginnings in antiquity, pre-World War II religious and commercial uses, Nazi appropriation, and its place in popular culture as a racist icon.

Genres: Design, History, Nonfiction, Politics, World War II, Art

167 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Steven Heller writes a monthly column on graphic design books for The New York Times Book Review and is co-chair of MFA Design at the School of Visual Arts. He has written more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century, Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design Second Edition, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, Graphic Design History, Citizen Designer, Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer, The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration, Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. He edits VOICE: The AIGA Online Journal of Graphic Design, and writes for Baseline, Design Observer, Eye, Grafik, I.D., Metropolis, Print, and Step. Steven is the recipient of the Art Directors Club Special Educators Award, the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the School of Visual Arts' Masters Series Award.

Reviews

[Marcus Leis Allion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the well researched and informative history given by Heller, but was deeply disappointed with such an overly subjective, simple, glib conclusion. Moreover, this conclusions poses itself as the final word on the matter, rather than a departure point for further enquiry. Certainly it is difficult to find anything redeeming in a symbol largely associated with the ideas and promotion of Fascism, but outside of that doctrine this glyph has been highly revered for centuries. Indeed, much of Heller's book demonstrates this very fact, with suggestions of its association with fertility, to a seasonal structure, as well as a common good luck symbol across across Europe and America. But, I get the distinct impression that the research is merely a foil, a device on which Heller can proclaim his position. For the very fact the symbol has a multi-faceted history, throughout different and disparate cultures, denounces the very idea that there is one symbol of which we can speak.

If we are to accept Heller's presumption, that the swastika is beyond redemption, then why does he use it on the cover of his book? Indeed, why use the fascist colours, if not for dictating the associations we are to make? Why the more emotive use of the word 'swastika' over other names (fylfot, sun wheel, tetraskelion, Thor's hammer, to name but a few)?

Thus, the truly frightening aspect of the book is the authority that Heller places *in the symbol itself*, it becomes the embodiment of Fascism. He literally suggests the symbol is beyond redemption. This is not only absurd, it is, more wrongly, extremely dangerous. Fascism is insidious, reliant on division and fear. It creeps, in pursuit of convincing others of its abhorrent truth. Heller, despite his well placed horror of Fascist ideologies, has made a fatal error, and confused the appearance and the content, conflating the two into one. But then he is a Graphic Designer.

It is much more important that we seek to open up this minimal gap, to locate the context, and hear the nuanced voice of others. If that does not happen, then the Fascists have fertile ground on which to build camps anew-and that is something that should truly frighten us all.

[Kriti · Rating 2 out of 5]

The symbol of Hitler and his Nazi political theory wasn't the Swastik, it was the hooked cross. As mentioned in his book Mien Kampf, an autobiography from the very man in question, he described the symbol as Hakenkreuz, which etymologically refers to "Hooked Cross." This symbol has its roots in the Christian religious tradition and has nothing to do with the Swastika of the Indians. Ironically, the Swastika is a symbol of peace and harmony. Hitler was not an atheist, he was deeply influenced by Christianity and did inhumane and monstrous deeds in the name of the Christian God. The unjustified image and projection of Swastika as an evil symbol giving rise to the death of countless innocent people is just an attempt to take the blame away from the real symbolic significance of the gammadion cross for Hitler and his Nazism. The impact of this historical distortion of the Swastika is still felt in the illogical and meaningless refutation of it, thanks to a bunch of propagandists, Swastika has faced nonsensical backlash for years.

[Monty Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book poses a question in the title to which it is immediately obvious to any sane person who wasn’t born yesterday that the only possible answer can be “yes”. And this is indeed the answer that the author gives us. Given that, is there any point to reading this? Yes, there is. The question may have an obvious answer but the manner in which it is answered is still full of interest, and I learned many things about the ancient origin of the swastika which I did not know before. There are also lots of interesting illustrations.

[Mitzi Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like history, you may find this interesting.

[Emek Sancak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steven Heller is both graphic designer and historian, This book explains, and better shows, how the Swastica came to be both part of our culture and the symbol of evil. This was the second copy of the book I purchased. It is both unique and interesting.

[Sarah Youngblood · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dry read. The author is a graphic designer and this is his take on the swastika and its use. As a former designer, some of this was interesting, but a lot of it was dry and dull.

[James Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

The swastika has long been associated with hatred and conquest and war, but for thousands of years prior to Hitler’s Third Reich, it was a symbol of good luck and fortune. People put the symbol on everything—similar to how we would use a four leaf clover today. Just imagine a swastika wherever you would see a clover, and that’s what it meant, that’s how it was used, that’s what people associated the symbol with. The symbol has been found in Asia, Europe, Native American cultures, Central American cultures... It’s everywhere, and it for centuries it had positive connotations.

But in the late 1800s, that began to change. The discovery of Troy, and swastikas on some of the artifacts that matched those found in Europe, led people to speculate of a cultural link between the people of classical Greece with modern Europeans. People called them Aryans, supposedly a race of pure Caucasians, free of the taint of other cultures. White supremacist groups began using the symbol to signify their movement to purify their nations of outsiders. The Nazi party chose the symbol as well, and now it is forever associated with hatred and genocide.

Can it be redeemed? The author says it should not because that erases its history.

This book seems light on subject matter. It should have gone even deeper into this. What truly frustrates me is how the symbol came to be used by mysticism and white supremacists in the early 1900s. I don’t understand the connection to Troy, and it needed more details, and it made me angry how the author just skips over this important transition period. I wanted to know more about that, but the author provides no details regarding how this happened and why.

[Donald McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subtitle is misleading

A small, but decent, review of the history, use, and symbolism of of the swastika. I was disappointed that the "irredeemable?" bit of the subtitle didn't get more in depth analysis. The author pretty well says as much in the post script. I suppose I was looking for a bit more in depth semiotics and political philosophy, and less polemic, with the conclusion all but reached ahead of time.