What a doodle drawn on a towel by a young passenger on the Titanic tells us about how the post-industrial West used and celebrated one of the world’s oldest symbols of auspiciousness
Edgar Samuel Andrew was a young teenage student travelling on the ill-fated Titanic in 1912. One can view some of his carefully salvaged and preserved personal items at the Titanic Exhibition in the USA. One of these items is a towel with his name on it and a Swastik (incorrectly spelled and pronounced as Swastika). Part of the description beside the exhibit reads “The Swastik is a sacred symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, where it has had an auspicious meaning dating back at least 11,000 years. In the early 20th Century, it was widely adopted in Western Europe as a symbol of good luck and regularly used as a decoration until its meaning was subverted by the Nazi party in the 1930s.
The story of the Swastik, its antiquity, and its significance in Hinduism and other Indic religions, and its use in many other civilisations, cultures and religions across the globe from ancient to medieval times, is the subject of an entirely separate article study. Suffice to say, though, that evidence of the Swastik being utilised in India from well before the peak of the Saraswati Sindhu civilisation is well characterised, and there is ample evidence of the use of the Swastik going back to the last ice age across various world cultures. Its use was not restricted to the non-Abrahamic world; the Swastik was also used in early Christian cultures.
Related Article: Exploring the ancient and sacred Swastika symbol in Hinduism
However, this one little drawing found in (what seems to us now as) the most unexpected place and time, offers a fascinating glimpse into how the Swastik was a regularly used symbol in the West in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A simple internet search yields an abundance of information and examples that it is not possible to even scratch the surface of in a short article that seeks merely to reflect on some of the different contexts in which the Swastik (in its original sense of good tidings) has been used in what we now know as the West.
The most sensible place to start is, of course, India – arguably one of the very last remnants of the Old World civilisations still living, breathing and thriving to this day. During the turn of the 19th/20th Centuries, India was largely under British rule, so it is not surprising that the likes of Rudyard Kipling and other colonial authors, publishers and illustrators started to use the Swastik alongside many other Hindu religious and cultural emblems as decorative motifs in many of their works – to the extent that some people tried to copyright and even trademark certain versions of these diagrams in their works. In the years leading up to the First World War, Kipling is said to have resented the fact that his beloved Swastik was becoming “defiled beyond recognition” due to its misappropriation by the Nazis.
Interestingly, use of the Swastik during the period in question was not only confined to British India; the Swastik was a very popular symbol in America, too. The Swastik was a fairly common and accepted sight on items as diverse as good-luck tokens, fruit and vegetable packaging, Coca-Cola brand souvenirs, Carlsberg beer bottles, postcards and several other keepsakes, memorabilia and paraphernalia. The Swastik was widely adopted in the fashion, jewellery and interior design industries as a decorative motif. Even members of the Russian Royal family used it as a good luck charm.
Highly respected establishments such as the Boy Scouts utilised the symbol, and the Ladies’ Home Journal even used it as an emblem for their magazine, with the Girls’ Club even naming their magazine “The Swastika”. It was an object of fascination and reverence by many museum and academic establishments. There is even a small town by the name of Swastik in Canada; of note, attempts were made to change the name of this town during the Second World War, but the townsfolk resisted, saying that they had laid claim to the name before the Nazis. A number of other places and landmark names exist bearing the name of the Swastik. Canada even had an ice hockey team named the “Windsor Swastikas”. The beloved Swastik was also incorporated into the architecture of a number of official government buildings and other works of construction (such as bridges) across America and is even seen in buildings built during that bygone era in Europe, Australia and Latin America.
Its adoption in other industries included its use as a logo in Icelandic shipping companies as well as Swedish electrical companies, American motor companies, and much more.
It is oftentimes forgotten that, in the early years of the First World War, the Swastik was even used by the American armed forces and was an insignia on some Royal Air Force aircraft at the outbreak of the Second World War. The Swastik insignia was popular in other militaries, too. For example, it was used extensively by the Finnish military (and is still used to this day).
The evil of the Nazis must never be forgotten. It is, however, a great tragedy that their adoption of the Hakenkreuz led to the demonisation of the erstwhile celebrated Swastik – an emblem that, for thousands of years, has symbolised the very opposite of such evil. In 2008, the Hindu-Jewish leadership summit took steps to acknowledge the fact that the Nazi adoption of the Swastik was one of the most unfortunate examples of cultural misappropriation in history. One can argue that it is not just the Dharmic faiths that have been misunderstood because of this misappropriation, but this has been a setback for all ancient cultures and civilisations that have positively used the Swastik for millenia.
Edgar Samuel Andrew’s drawing on the Titanic – particularly in the context of all of the hopes, dreams and aspirations the young student might have had as he embarked on his journey – is a poignant and stirring reminder of the Swastik’s widespread use in popular Western culture as a symbol of good fortune, auspiciousness, faith, success, spiritual expansion and all that is pure and positive – the very essence of the meaning it has carried for many ancient cultures for countless millennia. Hinduism and other Indic faith systems have managed, against all odds, to retain the true meaning of the Swastik to this day. Perhaps it is time that the rest of the world reconnected with what it truly means to stand for.
Relevance for Hindus
Of the 19 symbols embossed in Shri Kṛṣṇa’s feet, the Swastik is one of them. As the Shloka in Padma Purana will testify,
candrārdhaṃ kalasaṃ tri-koṇa-dhanuṣi khaṃ goṣpadam proṣṭhikam |
śaṅkhaṃ savya-pade ‘tha dakṣiṇa-pade koṇāṣṭakaṃ svastikam |
cakraṃ chatra-yavāṅkuśaṃ dhvaja-pavi jambūrdhva-rekhāmbujam |
bibhrāṇaṃ hariṃ unaviṃśati-mahā-lakṣmy-arcitāṅghrim bhaje ||
चन्द्रार्धं कलसं त्रिकोणधनुषि खं गोष्पदं प्रोष्ठिकम् ।
शंखं सव्यपदेऽथ दक्षिणपदे कोणाष्टकं स्वस्तिकम् ।
चक्रं छत्रयवाङ्कुशं ध्वजपवि जम्बूर्ध्वरेखाम्बुजम् ।
बिभ्राणं हरिमुनविंशति महालक्ष्म्यर्चितंघ्रिम्भजे ॥
Padma Purana was narrated by the Sage Suta Romaharshana to an assembly of contemporary Sages, led by Saunaka. It also contains detailed anthropomorphic and genealogical information of the royal dynasties of the time. Hence, it serves as verifiable and authentic evidence for this claim. This is merely one mention and meaning of the symbol. Another meaning of the Swastik indicates energy harmony between the 4 directions and therefore, is commonly placed on the entrances of Hindu families. A deeper indication to aspire for such harmony throughout life.
In summary, in the Hindu-Indian culture, from stories to traditions, from rituals to symbols, everything always has a deeper meaning which requires careful consideration.
References
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1412707753366714
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1088024576640425
https://archive.org/details/theswastika00wilsuoft/page/n3/mode/2up
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29644591
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2150&context=ocj
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210816-the-ancient-symbol-that-was-hijacked-by-evil
Kipling and the Swastika – from KJ385 – The Kipling Society
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/history-of-the-swastika
https://ameshistory.org/identify/ames-swastika-postcard
The Twisted History of the Swastika – New Dawn – World’s Most Unusual Magazine
