Ah, thanks a lot, I was actually thinking about Estonia, being that they have close historical ties to Finland, but I wasn't 100% sure...
As for the "small" part, for the Texans here on the forum everything else is considered small, except maybe Alaska wich they don't accept as a real state anyway..

But it's also a true fact that the swastika was in common use on many different sides of the globe long before mr. Schickelgruber changed his name to Hitler.

Hmm, if he hadn't changed his name maybe the world wouldn't have suffered under the nazi-ideology at all?
I mean, shouting "Heil Schickelgruber!" just sounds ridiculous, so I doubt that he would have had many followers then.

Besides, swastika was used even in Russia. When Revoliution of 1917 overthrew monarchy, swastikas were used on a banknotes of Republic of Russia. The last Czar drew swastika as a symbol of a good hope in a house where he and his family were executed by Bolsheviks.

<offtopic>Yes, this failed Austrian painter ruined ancient solar symbol and some of German runes. Even words "leader" - Duce, Fuehrer - sound evil nowadays. It is a pity, but it is so </offtopic>

Several steel-works used a swastika to mark the steel grade, and there was other uses as well, wich ended promptly when mr. Hitler came in charge of Germany.

Offtopic again, I once saw a painting by the Austrian corporal, it was a landscape, and in my opinion it looked far better than most "art-pieces" you see nowadays.
Maybe he was a bit talented after all, and the world would surely have been spared a lot of suffering if he had been accepted at the university in Wienna.

Originally Posted by AikiRooster

Does anyone know why the Nazi's chose the Swastika as their emblem, and who in the regime decided to use it?
It seems odd that they chose an ancient Buddhist symbol to me.

Hi,

Swastika is not a Symbol of Buddhists .. it's a Symbol of Good Luck and prosperity in Hinduism....

Well, I am not so ignorant (or arrogant) to suggest your wrong. However, even if what you say may be so, the Swastika was indeed a symbol in Buddhism.

I would not swear to it, but I do seem to remember seeing a swastika used in connection with Buddhist decoration. However not knowing a lot about Buddhism per se I am being cautious.

Originally Posted by AikiRooster

Well, I am not so ignorant (or arrogant) to suggest your wrong. However, even if what you say may be so, the Swastika was indeed a symbol in Buddhism.

Hi,

Buddhism and Jainism both use Swastika are very new religions in compared to Hinduism ...... Prince Gautam who started Buddhism was a Hindu prince and so was Vardhaman Mahaveer who started Jainism... Both are branches of Hinduism... and almost all the religions that came out of Hinduism use swastika as a symbol of Good luck .

So try and understand this .. Hinduism Dates back to Indus Valley Civilisation .. it's several several thousand years older than Buddhism and Jainism or for that matters Judaism and Christianity.

So to make a statement that Swastika is a Symbol of Buddhism would not be entirely correct ....




Peace

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This site answers all your questions.
Sven

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Very interesting sven, Thank you.