Finland's air force quietly ditches infamous SWASTIKA symbol from its command insignia
- The air force had used the symbol ever since it was founded in 1918
- A blue swastika on a white background was used on Finland's planes until 1945
- Until recently, it still featured in some unit emblems, flags and decorations
- The swastika had been used for thousands of years in Indian culture before being co-opted by Nazi Germany
Finland's air force has quietly dropped the infamous swastika from its command insignia after critics called for it to be changed because of its links with Nazi Germany.
The air force had used the symbol ever since it was founded in 1918 and long before it was co-opted by mass murderer Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party.
But in a change first noticed by University of Helsinki academic Teivo Teivainen and reported by the BBC, the air force command has stopped using the unit emblem.
Finland's air force has quietly dropped the infamous swastika from its command insignia after critics called for it to be changed because of its links with Nazi Germany
However, the emblem of the Finnish air force academy still features a swastika superimposed with a propeller.
Teivainen had previously questioned whether the symbol's use was helpful for the Finnish armed forces.
The swastika had been used for thousands of years in Indian culture and was a fashionable symbol in the West before it became linked with the crimes of Nazi Germany.
A blue swastika on a white background was used on Finland's planes until 1945 and although the country was aligned with Nazi Germany its use was not intended to show allegiance.
After the Second World War and until recently, the swastika still featured in some unit emblems, flags and decorations, including on uniforms, a spokesman told the BBC.
Since January 2017, the official emblem of the air force has been a golden eagle and circle of wings but the swastika still featured in some unit emblems, flags and decorations, including on uniforms
This is despite the fact that since January 2017, the official emblem has been a golden eagle and circle of wings.
'As unit emblems are worn on uniform, it was considered impractical and unnecessary to continue using the old unit emblem, which had caused misunderstandings from time to time,' the air force spokesman said.
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The geometric symbol is in the form of a cross with arms coming off at right angles.
Its name comes from the Sanskrit words for prosperity and good luck.
The air force had used the symbol ever since it was founded in 1918 and long before it was co-opted by mass murderer Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party. Pictured: Historic Finnish airforce planes featuring the blue swastika
Because of Hitler's genocidal crimes against millions of Jewish people and many others, the swastika symbolises Nazism and anti-Semitism for many people in the West.
The swastika became associated with the Finnish air force after a Swedish nobleman, Count Eric von Rosen, gave a plane to Sweden's infant air force which featured a blue swastika painted on it.
Afterwards, all Finnish planes had the symbol on until 1945.
Professor Teivainen told the BBC he had never suggested the swastika should be banned in Finland, but that the military's duty is to 'defend the nation - not to defend an old count in 1918.'
Evene though von Rosen had no associations with Nazism in 1918, he went on to become a leading figure in Sweden's national socialist movement in the 1930s.
According to professor Teivainen, he was also a friend of Hitler and a brother-in-law of Herman Goring, Hitler's air force chief.
Origins of the Swastika
According to Britannica Encyclopedia, the word swastika is actually derived from the Sanskrit 'svastika,' which means 'conducive to well-being'.
While the symbol has been prominent in Nordic, Christian and Byzantine art, it is most prominently associated with India and the practice of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.
The Jainas use it for their seventh Tirthankara (saint) and is said to be a symbol of rebirth.
Those that practice Hinduism use the swastika to mark the opening pages of their account books, thresholds, doors, and offerings.
An Indian woman seen drawing the holy sign of Swastika during the Ambubachi festival
They also have a distinction between which hand the swastika is on.
The right-hand swastika is considered a symbol for the sun while the left-hand swastika more often stands for nighttime and the goddess Kali.
The swastika symbolizes the footprints of Buddha for Buddhists. It is often used at both the beginning and ending of inscriptions.
The swastika began its association with anti-Semitism when it was co-opted by Austrian poet and nationalist Guido von List.
Born in 1848, List is believed to have been one of the very first adopters of the swastika as an ideological symbol.
List embraced anti-Semitic views and was involved in a movement calling for the integration of Austria into the German empire.
By 1919-20, the symbol had been adopted by the virulently anti-Semitic National Socialist Party, which future Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler led from the early 1920s.
Those that practice Hinduism use the swastika to mark the opening pages of their account books, thresholds, doors, and offerings
In 1935, two years after Hitler had been appointed Chancellor of Germany, the symbol was central on the national flag of Germany.
In 1938, Heinrich Himmler, the leader of Nazi paramilitary organisation the SS sent zoologist and adventurer Ernst Schafer to Tibet to reportedly search for what they believe was the lost race of ‘original’ Aryans.
Himmler himself founded the ‘Ahnenerbe’ Society, whose members had championed the bizarre notion that there had once been a ‘Nordic-Atlantic original culture’ which was destroyed when the moon crashed into the Earth.
The details of the Tibet mission are revealed in historian Peter Meier-Husing’s book Nazis in Tibet.
Mosaic swastika in an excavated Byzantine church in Shavei Tzion, (Israel)
In 1935, two years after Hitler had been appointed Chancellor of Germany, the symbol was central on the national flag of Germany
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