The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the swastika, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very similar flag had represented the Party beginning in 1920.
The swastika
The Nazis' principal symbol was the hakenkreuz, "hooked-cross" which the newly established Nazi Party formally adopted in 1920. The emblem was a black swastika rotated 45 degrees on a white circle on a red background. This insignia was used on the party's flag, badge, and armband. Similar shaped swastikas were seen in United States postcards wishing people good luck in the early 1900s. The black-white-red motif is based on the colours of the flags of the German Empire. This colour scheme was commonly associated with anti-Weimar German nationalists, following the fall of the German Empire. The Nazis denounced the black-red-gold flag of the Weimarrepublic. In Mein KampfAdolf Hitler described the symbolism of the Nazi flag: "The red expressed the social thought underlying the movement. Whitethe national thought. And the swastika signified the mission allotted to us-the struggle for the victory of Aryan mankind and at the same time the triumph of the ideal of creative work..." Today, certain countries such as Germany, Austria, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Brazil, and Israel have banned Nazi symbols and it is considered a criminal offence if they are displayed publicly for non-educational purposes. On August 9, 2018, Germany lifted the ban on the usage of swastikas and other Nazi symbols in video games. "Through the change in the interpretation of the law, games that critically look at current affairs can for the first time be given a USK age rating," USK managing director Elisabeth Secker told CTV. "This has long been the case for films and with regards to the freedom of the arts, this is now rightly also the case with computer and videogames."
Heraldry
Under the Nazi regime, government bodies were encouraged to remove religious symbolism from their heraldry. Symbols such as crosses, saints, etc. were seen as upsetting to National Socialists; however, few German councils actually changed their often ancient symbols. Some, however, did, including Coburg, which replaced the Maure on their arms with a sword and swastika, and Thuringia, which added a swastika to the paws of their lion. Nazi occultists Karl Maria Wiligut and Guido von List both claimed that heraldry began in the world of the Germanic gods, and was created by Wotan, the god of war.
Letters of the historical runic alphabet and the modern Armanen runes have been used by Nazism and neo-Nazi groups that associate themselves with Germanic traditions, mainly the Sigel, Eihwaz, Tyr; c.f. Odal and Algiz runes. The fascination that runes seem to have exerted on the Nazis can be traced to the occult and völkisch author Guido von List, one of the important figures in Germanic mysticism and runic revivalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1908, List published in Das Geheimnis der Runen a set of 18 so-called "Armanen Runes", based on the Younger Futhark, which were allegedly revealed to him in a state of temporary blindness after a cataract operation on both eyes in 1902. In Nazi contexts, the s-rune is referred to as "Sig". The "Wolfsangel", while not a rune historically, has the shape of List's "Gibor" rune. Runic "SS" was the symbol of the Schutzstaffel.
Usages by neo-Nazi groups
Many symbols used by the Nazis have further been appropriated by neo-Nazi groups, including a number of runes. Neo-Nazis however also employ various number symbols such as:
18, code for Adolf Hitler. The number comes from the position of the letters in the alphabet: A = 1, H = 8.
14, from the Fourteen Words coined by David Lane: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."
14 and 88 are sometimes combined with each other. They are also sometimes depicted on dice.
Celtic Cross, originally a symbol used to represent pre-Christian and Christian European groups such as the Irish post-World War II it has been used by many neo-Nazi groups.
