History UsefulNotes / NonNaziSwastika

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1644354214098869900&page=1#comment-1 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

Polar opposite of ANaziByAnyOtherName: ''This'' trope is about cases where the most famous symbol of Nazism actually doesn't have anything to do with Nazism.

The trope is still hotly debated, especially since globalization introduced Western audiences to those cultures where swastikas are ubiquitous. Many people from these cultures argue against censorship of their religious symbols, claiming that it's a form of cultural arrogance and a disrespectful attempt at enforcing the Western historical consciousness into other realities. On the flip side, others argue that the legacy of Nazism is still strongly ingrained in the Western world and many people aren't just ready yet to accept swastika as a symbol with a different meaning from Nazism. Even in the best-case scenario, though, someone who displays such a symbol is liable to be MistakenForRacist.

* "Origin Story", by Dwight R. Decker, uses this trope; a magical being who's been away for the past century gets turned down when he tries to give a man the [[EmbarrassingButEmpoweringOutfit superpowers and identity of Captain Swastika (with big swastikas on his costume)]].

* Creator/CarlSagan's book ''Comet'' recounts an instance during the filming of ''Series/CosmosAPersonalVoyage'' where the film crew were greeted with paper swastikas while filming in India during a festival. Several of the crew, including Sagan himself (who was Jewish), were briefly alarmed until they realized it was an example of this trope.

* Buddha-Jumps-Over-the-Wall from ''Tale of Food'' formerly explicitly brought up this trope to explain the swastika he wears on his neck, though the term Nazi was not outright mentioned. This line has since been replaced.

* The original highway signs for Arizona had swastikas in an arrowhead at the bottom up until 1942, when it was changed for obvious reasons.

* This is set up purposefully in ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy 2''. The BigBad Lance is portrayed as a neo-Nazi intent on destroying the world to rebuild it. However, if one looks carefully at his uniform, his swastika is facing the other direction from the Nazi swastika to form the Buddhist symbol for peace, an appropriate reflection of his ultimate motives.

The trope is still hotly debated, especially since globalization introduced Western audiences to those cultures where swastikas are ubiquitous. Many people from these cultures argue against censorship of their religious symbols, claiming that it's a form of cultural arrogance and a disrespectful attempt at enforcing the Western historical consciousness into other realities. On the flip side, others argue that the legacy of Nazism is still strongly ingrained in the Western world and many people aren't just ready yet to accept swastika as a symbol with a different meaning from Nazism.

* UK editions of Creator/RudyardKipling's books published before the 1930s often have left-hand swastikas on the title pages.

* In ''VideoGame/TengaiMakyou II: Manjimaru'', the title character's name is written with one.

The trope is still hotly debated, especially since globalization introduced Western audiences to those cultures where swastikas are ubiquitous. Many people from these cultures argue against censorship of their religious symbols, claiming that it's a form of cultural arrogance and a disrespctful attempt at enforcing the Western historical consciousness into other realities. On the flip side, others argue that the legacy of Nazism is still strongly ingrained in the Western world and many people aren't just ready yet to accept swastika as a symbol with a different meaning from Nazism.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' : The "Calusari" episode features a swastika as a Romanian symbol of protection.

[[folder: Business]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

* WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends lampshades this in an episode with two German minions working for the Red Skull. One of them sees what he thinks is a swastika and even proclaims "Heil Hitler", only for the other to point out that it's supposed to be a Native American tapestry.

The trope is still hotly debated, especially since globalism introduced Western audiences to those cultures where swastikas are ubiquitous. Many people from these cultures argue against censorship of their religious symbols, claiming that it's a form of cultural arrogance and a disrespctful attempt at enforcing the Western historical consciousness into other realities. On the flip side, others argue that the legacy of Nazism is still strongly ingrained in the Western world and many people aren't just ready yet to accept swastika as a symbol with a different meaning from Nazism.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Ichigo's bankai incorporates a swastika into the sword's guard. The swastika itself is used in writing the word "bankai"--卍解--making Zangetsu's release a kind of visual pun.

* The [=CU=](Credit Union) Service Center has [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cuswirl_4481.gif a swastika that is tilted at a 45 degree angle (like the Nazi swastika), but has curved spokes that come to a point (unlike the Nazi swastika)]] as its symbol.

* [[http://orig14.deviantart.net/208a/f/2012/268/0/0/2__marine_brigade_ehrhardt_song_book_by_julius1880-d5fv0m7.jpg Soldiers of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt]], a Free Corps led by Hermann Ehrhardt that operated at the start of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic. It had no ties to the nascent Nazi party initially, although it had similar ultra-nationalist and anticommunist prospects. It took part in the fightings for the cities of central Germany and the northwestern ports during the late 1918/early 1919 communist revolution attempts and the Silesian uprisings against Polish insurgents, participated in the Kapp Putsch in 1920, disbanded that year and eventually formed a secret society, the Organisation Consul, which assassinated Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau in 1922. During UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, Ehrhardt refused to help the nazi party but most of his men eventually joined it, and he ended up one of those listed to be killed during [[ThePurge the Night of the Long Knives]], but managed to escape to Austria.

* One of the weapons in ''Videogame/LaMulana'' is the Keyblade (no relation to [[Franchise/KingdomHearts another video game series featuring Keyblades]]), a mystically-attuned sword with a swastika inserted in the blade. In the remake, however, the design was changed to a more ambiguously square shape.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/CityOfReality'': Todo [[http://cityofreality.com/2009/10/15/04-01-goldtrim/ has a shirt]] with one on the front, off-center. It is never shown in its entirety.
* ''Webcomic/{{Subnormality}}'': At one point, the time-traveling Nazis ''claim'' to be doing this.
[[/folder]]

* In one ''Radar the International Policeman'' story, Radar is sent to India on one of his cases. While there, he's briefly shocked to see Indians marching under a swastika flag, until an elderly man explains the differences between that swastika and the Nazi one.

* The original highway signs for Arizona had [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Arizona_highway_marker.jpg swastikas in an arrowhead at the bottom]] up until 1942, when it was changed for obvious reasons.

* There have been at least three Canadian minor league sports teams called the Swastikas (and using the emblem on their jerseys), none after 1926.

* One of the ''TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}}'' trading card game cards, the [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Koga%27s_Ninja_Trick_(Gym_Challenge_115#Gallery) Koga's Ninja Trick card]], originally had the symbol on it in mirror image until people complained and it was altered for the international release.

* One of the ''TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}}'' trading card game cards, the Koga's Ninja Trick card, originally had the symbol on it in mirror image until people complained and it was altered for the international release.

* Buddha-Jumps-Over-the-Wall from ''Tale of Food'' explicitly brings up this trope to explain the swastika he wears on his neck, though the term Nazi is not outright mentioned. Averted in the Japanese dub where this line is {{Bowdleriz|ation}}ed – he's given a completely different line in its place.

* Buddha-Jumps-Over-the-Wall from ''Tale of Food'' explicitly brings up this trope to explain the swastika he wears on his neck, though the term Nazi is not outright mentioned.