The 20th-century German

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

made extensive use of graphic

symbols A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise different concep ...

, especially the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very similar flag had represented the Party beginning in 1920. Nazi symbols and additional symbols have subsequently been used by neo-Nazis.

Swastika

The Nazis' principal symbol was the swastika, which the newly established

formally adopted in 1920. The formal symbol of the party was the , an eagle atop a swastika. The black-white-red motif is based on the colours of the flags of the German Empire. This colour scheme was commonly associated with anti-

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

German nationalists German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and of the Germanosphere into one unified nation-state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans a ...

, following the fall of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. Hilmar Hoffmann, John Broadwin, Volker R. Berghahn. ''The Triumph of Propaganda: Film and National Socialism, 1933–1945''. Berghahn Books, 1997. Pp. 16. The Nazis denounced the

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

- red-

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

flag of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

(the current

flag of Germany The national flag of Germany () is a tricolour (flag), tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: Sable (heraldry), black, Gules, red, and Or (heraldry), gold (). The flag was first sight ...

Heraldry

Under the Nazi regime, government bodies were encouraged to remove religious symbolism from their

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

. Few German councils actually changed their often ancient symbols. Some, however, did, including

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

, which replaced the Moor's head representing Saint Maurice on their arms with a sword and swastika, and

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, which added a swastika to the paws of their lion.

Other symbols and insignia

Letters of the Armanen runes invented by Guido von List were used by the SS, particularly the '' Doppel Siegrune'', based on the historical sowilo rune reinterpreted by List to signify 'victory' instead of the sun. Other Armanen runes used by the Nazis and subsequently by neo-Nazis include forms derived from Eihwaz, Tiwaz, Algiz and Othala.

The death's head appears on the

SS-Ehrenring The ''SS-Ehrenring'' (German language, German for "SS honour ring"), unofficially called ''Totenkopfring'' ("Totenkopf, Death's Head ring" or "skull ring"), was an award of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The ring was not a Orders, decorations, and me ...

presented by

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

to favored members of the SS, and was used as an insignia by the Death's Head Units of the SS that administered the concentration camps. Units of the Wehrmacht used insignia including the . The Ahnenerbe research unit of the SS also used Wilhelm Teudt's neo-heathen Irminsul symbol. Strasserism, a strand of Nazism with a Third Positionist ideology, used a crossed hammer and sword as its emblem.

Banning of symbols

The public display of Nazi symbols and gestures are today banned by law in many countries, including Australia (since 2024), Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany (see section 86a), Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine. On August 9, 2018, Germany lifted the ban on the usage of swastikas and other Nazi symbols in video games, allowing "games that critically look at current affairs" to be given an age rating instead by the manufacturer, such as USK. The move was made to bring the legislation in line with films and other arts.

Usage by neo-Nazi groups

Many symbols used by the Nazis have further been appropriated by

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

groups, including a number of runes: the so-called Black Sun, derived from a mosaic floor in Himmler's remodel of Wewelsburg; and the

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

, originally a symbol used to represent pre-Christian and Christian European groups such as the Irish. Neo-Nazis also employ various number symbols: * 18, code for

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. The number comes from the position of the letters in the alphabet: A = 1, H = 8. * 88, code for "Heil Hitler", a phrase used in the Nazi salute. Also used as a reference to the "88 Precepts", a manifesto written by white supremacist David Lane. * 14, from the

Fourteen Words "The Fourteen Words" (also abbreviated 14 or 1488) is a reference to two slogans originated by the American domestic terrorist David Eden Lane, one of nine founding members of the defunct white supremacist terrorist organization The Order (white ...

coined by David Lane: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." * 14 and 88 are sometimes combined with each other (i.e. 14/88, 8814, 1488). They are also sometimes depicted on dice. In 1997, Wolfgang Fröhlich, a Holocaust denier and former district council member for the Freedom Party of Austria, alleged that

's favorite food was egg dumplings ('' Eiernockerl''). Some restaurants in Austria started advertising the dish as a "daily special" for the 20th of April, which is Hitler's date of birth, and although the allegation about the dish has never been historically confirmed, some neofascists began eating it as a symbolic food to celebrate Hitler's birthday.

Gallery

File:Parteiadler Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (1933–1945).svg, The ' of the Nazi Party (1933–1945) File:Totenkopf.svg, SS death's head insignia File:Wolfsangel.svg, Horizontally aligned , used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division File:Wolfsangel 1.svg, Vertically aligned , used by the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division File:Nazi Odal rune.svg, Winged Odal, used by the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division (also used by the American-based "National Socialist Movement" from November 2016 until 2019) File:Schutzstaffel SS.svg, SS '' Doppel Siegrune'', based on the sig Armanen rune, in turn based on the historical sowilo rune File:Algiz.svg, Algiz rune File:Iron Cross (1939).svg,

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1939 version) File:Celtic-style crossed circle.svg, A simplified version of the

, as used by various neo-Nazi groups File:Sun Cross Swastika.svg, The broken sun cross used by the German Faith Movement and the 5th SS Panzer Division, also used by the Thule Society File:Strasserism Hammer and Sword.svg, The Hammer and Sword utilized by adherents of Strasserism File:Black Sun.svg, The Black Sun used by Esoteric Nazi circles and other neo-Nazi groups File:Black Sun 2.svg, A variation of the Black Sun used by Esoteric Nazi circles and other neo-Nazi groups

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazi Symbolism Fascist symbols Swastika