it makes perfect sense to me, and to many folks from anywhere where the symbol we now know as the "swastika" originated as a symbol of peace, strength and power. it dates back centuries, and is found on the forehead or the chest of buddha statues old and new. READ ON…

from an article on Buddhist symbols:

"The Swastika is a symbol that has become associated with Nazi Germany. Its origins, however, lie in the culture of many ancient cultures, symbolizing good fortune. In Buddhism, it is a symbol of the Buddha's heart and mind, sometimes appearing on the Buddha's chest in sculptural representations"



there are quite a few folks out there in the modern western world braving the questions and criticisms of others via their tattoos simply to open up the potential for conversations that may offer insight into the true meaning of this important and ancient symbol.

as we know, hitler was famous for his obsessions with the occult, the spirituality and magic of other cultures (even though he wanted to wipe 'em out) and his insanely despicable genius. the man adapted one of the oldest and most powerful symbols (it predates anything judeo-christian) reversed the direction of its "spokes" and utilized it a a symbol that we now recognize as evil.

whatever the direction, this symbol, in its original form (which i believe is how the fella in your picture meant it to be) is still used all over the world as a positive and powerful image.

the best example of this is that of "man-woman", a canadian artist who has his entire body tattooed with the ancient symbol from places such as egypt, india, nepal, china and so on. his photo is below, and if you click on it, you can see his website. he has written a book titled the "gentle swastika" which shows photos from all over the world using this symbol, including a pre-world war II photo of a women's winnipeg hockey team wearing sweaters crested with it, tiles from hotel and barroom floors all over north america using this pattern and more!

hope this may explain the not-so-obvious "why" of the photo.

I personally don't agree with the use of this particular because of the links to Hitler. However what do you think of the argument above that promotes the positive connotations of this image?

What is it with White People stealing the most sacred, precious things? How did they manage to turn a symbol that was associated with purity, prosperity, and magic into a symbol for hate…

To answer your question... I personally don’t think the ancient symbol can ever be reclaimed and separated from its Nazi associations.

Trying to promote the positive connotations of the symbol might actually make things worse… it will definitely give the Nazi’s an excuse to put the symbol everywhere…and use it freely...

The association with the symbol and Nazi runs too deep, I don’t think they will ever let it go…and personally speaking, when I see the symbol I don’t think good or bad Swastika I feel hatred and rage…

What people need to do is use swastikas in different shapes, instead of using those rigid/thick ones from the Nazi era, they should use rounded versions of the symbole like this: http://www.viewzone.com/swastika.figure.jpg