Finland's air force quietly drops swastika symbol
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Finland's air force quietly drops swastika symbol
The old emblem for the Finnish Air Force Command (left) featured a swastika, but the current emblem of the force does not
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Catching up. Better late than never. Started to go out of fashion after about 1939. There will be people defending it in some convoluted way. That will tell us more about them than the Swastika history. Good luck it may have been, but it lost that title a long time ago. Reversed. Backward swastika: backward thinking.
The symbol, in all iterations has been around for many thousands of years used in many different world religions. The National Socialist Party that came to power in Germany decided to tilt it and make it their own.representing the qualities desired to defend and put forward the cause of the Aryan race. Sadly due to the horrors of WW2 and the emotional charge instilled in people because of this association ANY Swastika is immediately associated with the Nazi Hakenkreutz, no matter how different in design, colour or form.
About 30yrs ago I had the experience of watching a friend give a slideshow presentation to a room of 60-70yr old Germans of his mountaineering expedition in Nepal. During the slideshow there were a few images of Swastikas on buildings, monasteries mostly, and there was an audible collective gasp by the audience and a following mini-hysteria that lasted several minutes. This was caused by the emotional charge associated with seeing this symbol again. Once pointed out that it was over 1,000 years old and was a sign of harmony and auspiciousness and was different in every way to the Nazi version, the room settled down again.
Whilst I agree that as a symbol, the associations are too strong to be workable because of sensitivities, it is a shame that something that has been around since before the Nazi Party, in the case of the Finnish and Latvian forces, and for millennia in religions should be quashed.
About 30yrs ago I had the experience of watching a friend give a slideshow presentation to a room of 60-70yr old Germans of his mountaineering expedition in Nepal. During the slideshow there were a few images of Swastikas on buildings, monasteries mostly, and there was an audible collective gasp by the audience and a following mini-hysteria that lasted several minutes. This was caused by the emotional charge associated with seeing this symbol again. Once pointed out that it was over 1,000 years old and was a sign of harmony and auspiciousness and was different in every way to the Nazi version, the room settled down again.
Whilst I agree that as a symbol, the associations are too strong to be workable because of sensitivities, it is a shame that something that has been around since before the Nazi Party, in the case of the Finnish and Latvian forces, and for millennia in religions should be quashed.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Swastika_Society
https://redswastika.moe.edu.sg/about-rss/our-history
My reaction when I saw references to Red Swastika on arrival in Singapore were initially of shock but it predated an odious regime on the other side of the world.
https://redswastika.moe.edu.sg/about-rss/our-history
My reaction when I saw references to Red Swastika on arrival in Singapore were initially of shock but it predated an odious regime on the other side of the world.
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Not only Red Swastika's in Singapore, the Mee Toh Primary School has a yellow swastika in it's school crest. https://meetoh.moe.edu.sg/
The symbol, in all iterations has been around for many thousands of years used in many different world religions. The National Socialist Party that came to power in Germany decided to tilt it and make it their own.representing the qualities desired to defend and put forward the cause of the Aryan race. Sadly due to the horrors of WW2 and the emotional charge instilled in people because of this association ANY Swastika is immediately associated with the Nazi Hakenkreutz, no matter how different in design, colour or form.
Whilst I agree that as a symbol, the associations are too strong to be workable because of sensitivities, it is a shame that something that has been around since before the Nazi Party, in the case of the Finnish and Latvian forces, and for millennia in religions should be quashed.
Whilst I agree that as a symbol, the associations are too strong to be workable because of sensitivities, it is a shame that something that has been around since before the Nazi Party, in the case of the Finnish and Latvian forces, and for millennia in religions should be quashed.
WTF!
I'm just waiting for some woke idiot to declare the "thumbs up" signal to be racist or otherwise vile
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When I went to live in Australia in the '60s, I was told that "thumbs up" was an obscene gesture, which being interpreted meaneth "sit on this."
The thumb-up hitch-hiking sign is the equivalent of a raised middle finger in some countries, Greece being one istr, although they do realise that a hitch hiker dosn't intend that meaning. That understanding is not present in some other places though.
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My info on hand signs was NSW, '60s, where the middle finger was only known to people with an interest in Americana.
Edited to add: Quora thread Thumbs up in Australia suggests that my memory of a long time ago is perhaps accurate, though maybe it was only used in such coarse places as the NSW country.
Last edited by FlightlessParrot; 6th Jul 2020 at 02:17. Reason: Additional info.
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Could have been someone having a loan of a new chum, but there are famous cultural incompatibilities. My favourite, relevant to the context, concerns the Australian colloquial expression for a minor greebie (and this is one I've heard people using IRL). Australian woman goes to London for working holiday, catches a bad cold, rings the office to call in sick and, in total innocence, says "I can't come to work today, I'm in bed with a wog." Also a once common Australian brand of adhesive tape which caused similar problems when approaching UK stationery departments: Durex.
My info on hand signs was NSW, '60s, where the middle finger was only known to people with an interest in Americana.
Edited to add: Quora thread Thumbs up in Australia suggests that my memory of a long time ago is perhaps accurate, though maybe it was only used in such coarse places as the NSW country.
My info on hand signs was NSW, '60s, where the middle finger was only known to people with an interest in Americana.
Edited to add: Quora thread Thumbs up in Australia suggests that my memory of a long time ago is perhaps accurate, though maybe it was only used in such coarse places as the NSW country.
NSW? Say no more. 
Re Durex, I made that mistake when posted to the US and went to the stationary section of the PX and asked the young lass for a rubber (eraser as it's called in the US). Australian dictionary,
https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres...gs-origins/all
Re Durex, I made that mistake when posted to the US and went to the stationary section of the PX and asked the young lass for a rubber (eraser as it's called in the US). Australian dictionary,https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres...gs-origins/all
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As an exchange student in the states in mid 70,s I was staying with a family who had a couple of daughters of the Cheer leader / girl next door variety, and we were going up to Washington for couple of days which involved an early start. I offered the previous evening to "knock" them both up in the morning for the early start. This caused both girls to burst out laughing, while parents looked at me some what aghast,needless to say my error was corrected.There was also an issue when I called their female Labrador a "bitch", not a female dog. Two countries separated by a common language !!
Cheers
Mr Mac
Cheers
Mr Mac
FlightlessParrot and I must be about the same age. When I was at school in NSW the thumbs up gesture was considered very rude. The V Sign was ruder. But the middle finger (“the bird”) was unknown.