Odal or Othala, sometimes called Winged Odal or Winged Othala, is a Nazi symbol in the shape of an

SS-rune SS runes () is a generic name given to a collection of pseudo-runes used by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (''SS''), from the 1920s to 1945, for Occultism in Nazism, Nazi occultism-purposes; featured on flags, uniforms and other items as symbols of vario ...

, used by the

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

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

'' (''SS''), during the 1930s and -40s, to symbolize several values of central importance to Nazi ideology, such as kinship, family and blood ties, etc. It's based on the historical

rune Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...

of the same name, Othala (ᛟ), a writing character of the late

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

(

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

Ω based), but often modified with

serif In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ( ...

s, or "wings" (also called "feet, hooks, heels" etc). During World War II, it was used by, among others,

7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" (), initially named the SS-Volunteer Division ''Prinz Eugen'' (''SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Prinz Eugen"''), was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an armed branch of the German Na ...

och Volunteer Legion Netherlands, as well as the

SS Race and Settlement Main Office The SS Race and Settlement Main Office (''Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt der SS'', RuSHA) was the organization responsible for "safeguarding the racial purity of the SS" within Nazi Germany. One of its duties was to oversee the marriages of SS p ...

, which was responsible for maintaining the racial purity of the SS. Nowadays it sees continued use with

Neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

and similar far-right collectives.

Usage

Period use

The Nazi-use of runic symbology was largely derrived from the

Armanen runes Armanen runes (or ''Armanen Futharkh'') are 18 pseudo-runes, inspired by the historic Younger Futhark runes, invented by Austrian mysticist and Germanic revivalist Guido von List during a state of temporary blindness in 1902, and described in ...

, a collection of

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

pseudo-runes Pseudo-runes are letters that look like Germanic runes but are not true ancient runes. The term is mostly used of incised characters that are intended to imitate runes, often visually or symbolically, sometimes even with no linguistic content, bu ...

, borrowed from the Younger Futhark, by Austrian mysticist and Germanic revivalist

Guido von List Guido Karl Anton List (5 October 1848 – 17 May 1919), better known as Guido von List, was an Austrian occultist, journalist, playwright, and novelist. He expounded a modern Pagan new religious movement known as Wotanism, which he claimed w ...

, in the 1920s. Due to Younger Futhark being Norse (Nordic) in root, nationalistic

German occultists German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

later turned to the collective Germanic

Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...

to derrive from, of which Othala (ᛟ) is part of. Such was later adopted by the Nazi German

(SS), along with other similar symbols, for esoteric symbology of Aryan superiority. Odal then became the badge of the

, which was responsible for maintaining the racial purity of the SS. It was also the emblem of ''ethnic Germans'' (') of the

operating during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the Nazi Germany-sponsored

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

. The Volunteer Legion Netherlands used a variant with arrows instead of wings. File:7th SS Division Logo.svg,

's emblem File:23rd SS Division Logo "Nederland".svg, Volunteer Legion Netherlands' emblem File:Flag of Volksdeutsche in Croatia.svg, Flag of the Croatian ''

Modern use

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 ...

s and similar far-right collectives have continued the use of the symbol into modern times, sometimes with wings and sometimes without. Its symbology varries. Users include: the Neo-Nazi in Germany, and in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

by the Anglo-Afrikaner Bond, the , the , the Italian neo-fascist group National Vanguard, the Afrikaner Student Federation and the far-right wing White Liberation Movement before it was disbanded. In November 2016, the leadership of the National Socialist Movement announced their intention to replace the Nazi-pattern

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 ...

with the othala rune on their uniforms and party regalia in an attempt to enter mainstream politics. The rune was further used, along with other traditional symbols from European cultures such as a

Tiwaz rune The ''t''-rune is named after Týr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz. Rune poems Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems. In the Icelandic and Norwegian poems, the rune is associat ...

and a

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 ...

, and slogans associated with Nazism and far-right extremism by the Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Harrison Tarrant.

Heathen Front The Allgermanische Heidnische Front (AHF) was an international neo-Nazi organisation, active during the late 1990s and early 2000s, that espoused a form of racial Germanic Neopaganism. It grew from the Norsk Hedensk Front (NHF), which was claimed ...

was a

group, active during the 1990s to 2005 that espoused a racist form of Heathenry and described its ideas as ''odalism'' in reference to the alternative name for othala.

Modern symbology

While some use the symbol under its original meaning of "kinship, family and blood ties", others have modified it to suite their agenda.

White supremacists White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...

who use the rune often claim it symbolises the heritage or land of "

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

" or "

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

" people which should be free from foreigners. It has been noted however that this usage is a new invention by the groups and is not attested in any source from before the modern period, being labelled by runologist Michael Barnes as "spring ngentirely from the imagination".

Alleged use

In some cases, individuals and organisations have been accused of using the rune as a far-right symbol, such as in April 2014 when the British

Topman Topman is a British online-only men's fashion retail brand operated by ASOS. Along with its women's clothing counterpart Topshop and the rest of Arcadia Group, Topman went into administration in late 2020. All high street stores subsequently c ...

clothing company apologised after using it in one of their clothing lines. Furthermore, at the

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC ) is an annual political conference attended by Conservatism in the United States, conservative Activism, activists and officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American ...

(CPAC) held in Orlando, Florida, on February 25–28, 2021, the floor layout of the main stage resembled the winged form of the othala rune, leading to speculation on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

as to why that design was chosen. CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp said comparisons were "outrageous and slanderous". Design firm Design Foundry later took responsibility for the design of the stage, saying that it "intended to provide the best use of space, given the constraints of the ballroom and social distancing requirements." Ian Walters, director of communications for the ACU and CPAC, said they would stop using Design Foundry. The

neo-folk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrument ...

group

Death in June Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P. (Douglas Pearce). The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio. However, after the other members left, in 1984 and 1985, to work on other projects, ...

used othala on the cover of their 7'' ''Come Before Christ And Murder Love'' alongside their "

Totenkopf ''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human s ...

6" logo. The group does not openly support far-right ideologies however scholars have noted the group's fascination with Nazism and extensive usage of Nazi, and more widely fascist, imagery.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite web , first=Nur Nasreen , last=Ibrahim , date=2021-03-03 , title=Was the CPAC Stage Intentionally Shaped Like a Nazi Symbol? , website=

snopes.com ''Snopes'' (), formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source ...

, access-date=2023-04-13 , url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cpac-stage-nazi-symbol/ , trans-quote=Verdict: "Mixture". The resemblance was clear, the intention undetermined by documentation but denied. SS runes Nazi symbolism