The Nazi Sig Rune and The Swastika

We move now into the second of the rune symbols used by the Nazis. Again I'm relying upon the help of Viking Rune to guide us into this study.

The Sig-Rune looks like a lightning bolt. It also is very ancient and did not mean what it came to mean among the Nazis. Among the ancient Norse and Germanic peoples it always designated the sun. In their language it was sowilo or sol, meaning sun. The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc name was sigel, which also meant 'sun'.

All this was changed by the very influential Guido von List. You will find much helpful information about this in Guido von List Runes and the Swastika symbol. Von List changed the name to Sieg, meaning victory in German. From this we are all familiar with the infamous Nazi salute, Sieg Heil, "Hale to Victory". Heil is, of course, a word for health and Heiland means Savior. Anyway, the Sig-Rune became an S and two together became the swastika and represented socialists joining together to form the National Socialist German Workers' party. In 1935 the swastika flag became official for Germany. The swastika symbol was not called that, but rather a HakenKreuz or hooked cross. This was Hitler's attempt to unite the church with the state, especially since German culture was strongly influenced by Christianity.

You can find more on these topics on Rex Curry's website and its various pages. He has some interesting things to say about the use of the swastika also in America up to the start of WW II, as well as the open hand salute. The symbol was used by various socialist groups, not only in the USA, but also in the USSR.

To say the least, Curry does not write objectively about these various matters.