Editing Swastika (section)

===Post- World War II stigmatisation===

Because of its use by Nazi Germany, the swastika since the 1930s has been largely associated with Nazism. In the aftermath of World War II, it has been considered a symbol of hate in the West,<ref>{{cite book|author=Verhulsdonck, Gustav|title=Digital Rhetoric and Global Literacies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ed9GAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA94|date=2013|publisher=IGI|isbn=978-1-4666-4917-0|page=94}}</ref> and of white supremacy in many Western countries.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dawn Perlmutter|title=Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPnKBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA242|date=2003|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4200-4104-0|page=242}}</ref>

As a result, all use of it, or its use as a Nazi or hate symbol, is prohibited in some countries, including Germany. In some countries, such as the United States (in the 2003 case ''[[Virginia v. Black]]''), the highest courts have ruled that the local governments can prohibit the use of swastika along with other symbols such as cross burning, if the intent of the use is to intimidate others.<ref name=wiener463 />

====Germany====
{{Further|Strafgesetzbuch section 86a{{!}}''Strafgesetzbuch'' section 86a}}

The German and Austrian postwar [[Strafgesetzbuch|criminal code]] makes the public showing of the swastika, the [[sig rune]], the [[Celtic cross]] (specifically [[Celtic cross#White supremacist symbolism|the variations used by white power activists]]), the {{lang|de|[[wolfsangel]]}}, the [[Odal SS-rune]] and the {{lang|de|[[Totenkopf]]}} skull illegal, except for certain enumerated exemptions. It is also censored from the reprints of 1930s railway timetables published by the {{lang|de|[[Reichsbahn]]}}. The swastikas on Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples are exempt, as religious symbols cannot be banned in Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.dw.com/en/germany-wont-seek-eu-wide-ban-on-swastikas/a-2330716 |title = Germany Won't Seek EU-Wide Ban on Swastikas |date= 29 January 2007 |work = [[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref>

A controversy was stirred by the decision of several police departments to begin inquiries against anti-fascists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spcm.org/Journal/article.php3?id_article=1869 |work=Le Journal Chrétien |title=Stuttgart Seeks to Ban Anti-Fascist Symbols |publisher=Spcm.org |access-date=2 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420011238/http://www.spcm.org/Journal/article.php3?id_article=1869 |archive-date=20 April 2008 }}</ref> In late 2005 police raided the offices of the [[punk rock]] label and mail order store "Nix Gut Records" and confiscated merchandise depicting crossed-out swastikas and fists smashing swastikas. In 2006 the {{lang|de|[[Stade]]}} police department started an inquiry against anti-fascist youths using a placard depicting a person dumping a swastika into a trashcan. The placard was displayed in opposition to the campaign of right-wing nationalist parties for local elections.<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www.tageblatt.de/main.cfm?DID=747071 Tageblatt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113164205/http://www.tageblatt.de/main.cfm?DID=747071 |date=13 January 2009 }} 23 September 2006</ref>

On Friday, 17 March 2006, a member of the {{lang|de|[[Bundestag]]}}, [[Claudia Roth]] reported herself to the German police for displaying a crossed-out swastika in multiple demonstrations against [[neo-Nazis]], and subsequently got the Bundestag to suspend her immunity from prosecution. She intended to show the absurdity of charging anti-fascists with using fascist symbols: "We don't need prosecution of non-violent young people engaging against right-wing extremism." On 15 March 2007, the [[Federal Court of Justice of Germany]] ({{lang|de|Bundesgerichtshof}}) held that the crossed-out symbols were "clearly directed against a revival of national-socialist endeavours", thereby settling the dispute for the future.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=pm&Datum=2007&Sort=3&Seite=5&anz=200&pos=164&nr=39349&linked=urt&Blank=1&file=dokument.pdf |title=3 StR 486/06 |publisher=[[Federal Court of Justice of Germany]] |access-date=2 March 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=pm&Datum=2007&Sort=3&Seite=5&nr=39202&pos=164&anz=200 |title=Bundesgerichtshof press statement No. 36/2007 |publisher=[[Federal Court of Justice of Germany]] |date=15 March 2007 |access-date=2 March 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,471880,00.html |title=Anti-Nazi-Symbole sind nicht strafbar |trans-title=Anti-Nazi symbols are not forbidden |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |date=15 March 2007 |access-date=2 March 2010 }}</ref>

On 9 August 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."<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/09/germany-lifts-ban-nazi-symbols-video-games/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/09/germany-lifts-ban-nazi-symbols-video-games/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Germany Lifts Ban on Nazi Symbols in Video Games |author=<!--Staff writers; no by-line.--> |date=9 August 2018 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/germany-lifts-ban-on-swastikas-in-videogames/ |first=Andy |last=Chalk |title=Germany Lifts Ban on Swastikas in Videogames |date=9 August 2018 |work=[[PC Gamer]]}}</ref>

====Legislation in other European countries====
* Until 2013 in Hungary, it was a criminal misdemeanour to publicly display "totalitarian symbols", including the swastika, the [[SS]] insignia, and the [[Arrow Cross]], punishable by custodial arrest.<ref name=hu-const-court /><ref>{{cite web|title=Act C of 2012 on the Criminal Code, Section 335: Use of Symbols of Totalitarianism|url=http://thb.kormany.hu/download/a/46/11000/Btk_EN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222194128/http://thb.kormany.hu/download/a/46/11000/Btk_EN.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-22 |url-status=live|page=97|website=Ministry of Interior of Hungary|access-date=21 February 2017|quote=Any person who: a) distributes, b) uses before the public at large, or c) publicly exhibits, the swastika, the insignia of the SS, the arrow cross, the sickle and hammer, the five-pointed red star or any symbol depicting the above so as to breach public peace{{snd}}specifically in a way to offend the dignity of victims of totalitarian regimes and their right to sanctity{{snd}}is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by custodial arrest, insofar as it did not result in a more serious criminal offense.}}</ref> Display for academic, educational, artistic or journalistic reasons was allowed at the time. The [[communist symbol]]s of [[hammer and sickle]] and the [[red star]] were also regarded as totalitarian symbols and had the same restriction by Hungarian criminal law until 2013.<ref name=hu-const-court />
* In Latvia, public display of Nazi and Soviet symbols, including the Nazi swastika, is prohibited in public events since 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/latvia-bans-nazi-symbols-in-public-1.5283630|title=Latvia Bans Nazi, Soviet Symbols at Public Events|date=2013-06-20|work=Haaretz|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Latvian-bill-would-ban-Soviet-Nazi-symbols/58631371833846/|title=Latvian bill would ban Soviet, Nazi symbols|date=2013-06-21|work=UPI|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en}}</ref> However, in a court case from 2007 a regional court in Riga held that the swastika can be used as an ethnographic symbol, in which case the ban does not apply.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://lvportals.lv/skaidrojumi/255373-ka-aizliegt-to-kas-jau-ir-aizliegts-2013|title=Kā aizliegt to, kas jau ir aizliegts? |last=lvportals.lv|date=2013-05-07|access-date=2018-11-08|language=lv}}</ref>
* In Lithuania, public display of Nazi and Soviet symbols, including the Nazi swastika, is an administrative offence, punishable by a fine from 150 to 300 [[euros]]. According to judicial practice, display of a non-Nazi swastika is legal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2010/05/lithuania-court-rules-swastikas-are-part-of-historic-legacy.php |title=Lithuania court rules swastikas are part of historic legacy |last=Stemple |first=Hillary |date=20 May 2010 |website=[[JURIST]]}}</ref>
* In Poland, public display of Nazi symbols, including the [[Nazi]] swastika, is a criminal offence punishable by up to eight years of imprisonment. The use of the swastika as a religious symbol is legal.<ref name=tele-che />
* In [[Geneva]], Switzerland, a new constitution article banning the use of hate symbols, emblems, and other hateful images was passed in June 2024, which included banning the use of the swastika.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-06-09 |title=Hate symbols banned by voters in Geneva |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/democracy/hate-symbols-banned-by-voters-in-geneva/80152669 |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The [[European Commission|European Union's Executive Commission]] proposed a European Union-wide anti-racism law in 2001, but European Union states failed to agree on the balance between prohibiting racism and freedom of expression.<ref name=EthanMcNern /> An attempt to ban the swastika across the EU in early 2005 failed after objections from the British Government and others. In early 2007, while Germany held the European Union presidency, Berlin proposed that the European Union should follow German Criminal Law and criminalise the [[Holocaust denial|denial of the Holocaust]] and the display of Nazi symbols including the swastika, which is based on the Ban on the Symbols of Unconstitutional Organisations Act. This led to an opposition campaign by Hindu groups across Europe against a ban on the swastika. They pointed out that the swastika has been around for 5,000 years as a symbol of peace.<ref>Staff. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6269627.stm Hindus opposing EU swastika ban] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119204834/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6269627.stm |date=19 January 2007 }}, [[BBC]] online, 17 January 2007.</ref><ref>Staff (source dgs/[[Reuters]])[http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460259,00.html Hindus Against Proposed EU Swastika Ban] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129141033/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460259,00.html |date=29 January 2012 }} [[Der Spiegel]] online, 17 January 2007</ref> The proposal to ban the swastika was dropped by Berlin from the proposed [[Fundamental Rights Agency|European Union wide anti-racism laws]] on 29 January 2007.<ref name=EthanMcNern />

====Outside Europe====
The manufacture, distribution or broadcasting of a swastika, with the intent to propagate Nazism, is a crime in Brazil as dictated by article 20, paragraph 1, of federal statute 7.716, passed in 1989. The penalty is a two to five years prison term and a fine.<ref>[https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/LEIS/L7716.htm Brazilian Federal Statute 7.716] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515033324/http://www.planalto.gov.br/CCIVIL_03/LEIS/L7716.htm |date=15 May 2009 }} 1989-05-01, (Portuguese)</ref>

The public display of [[Nazi]]-era German flags (or any other flags) is protected by the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]], which guarantees the right to [[freedom of speech]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shuster|first1=Simon|title=How the Nazi Flags in Charlottesville Look to a German|url=https://time.com/4900385/charlottesville-nazi-kkk-swastika-germany-reaction/|access-date=15 August 2017|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=14 August 2017}}</ref> The Nazi ''[[Reichskriegsflagge]]'' has also been seen on display at white supremacist events within United States borders, side by side with the [[Flags of the Confederate States of America#Battle flag|Confederate battle flag]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article29557972.html |title=How Germany dealt with its symbols of hate |last=Schofield |first=Matthew |date=30 July 2015 |website=mcclatchydc.com |publisher=McClatchy DC Bureau |access-date=18 August 2017 |quote=It's notable that when Ku Klux Klan members recently rallied in South Carolina, they carried both the battle flag and the Nazi swastika. The two flags in recent years have been commonly seen together at white supremacist groups and gatherings.}}</ref>

In 2010, the [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL) downgraded the swastika from its status as a Jewish hate symbol, saying "We know that the swastika has, for some, lost its meaning as the primary symbol of Nazism and instead become a more generalised symbol of hate."<ref name="Dickter">{{cite web | last1=Dickter | first1=Adam | last2=Lipman | first2=Steve | last3=Savage | first3=Nigel| title=ADL Downgrades Swastika As Jewish Hate Symbol | website=Jewish Week | date=Jun 1, 2010 | url=http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/adl-downgrades-swastika-as-jewish-hate-symbol/ | access-date=Apr 23, 2020}}</ref> The ADL notes on their website that the symbol is often used as "shock graffiti" by juveniles, rather than by individuals who hold white supremacist beliefs, but it is still a predominant symbol among American white supremacists (particularly as a tattoo design) and used with antisemitic intention.<ref name="ADL">{{Cite web|title=Swastika|url=https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/swastika|access-date=2020-07-31|website=Anti-Defamation League|language=en}}</ref>

In 2022, [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] was the first Australian state to ban the display of the Nazi's swastika. People who intentionally break this law will face a one-year jail sentence, a fine of 120 penalty units ($23,077.20 AUD as of 2023, equivalent to £12,076.66 or US$15,385.57), or both.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61890577 | title=Swastika: Victoria bans display of Nazi symbol in Australian first | date=22 June 2022 | publisher=BBC News  |access-date= 22 June 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The ban on Nazi symbols and gestures in Victoria |url=https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/ban-nazi-symbols-gestures-victoria |website=Victoria Legal Aid |date=November 2023 |access-date=3 December 2023}}</ref>

====Media====
In 2010, [[Microsoft]] officially spoke out against use of the swastika by players of the [[first-person shooter]] ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops]]''. In ''Black Ops'', players are allowed to customise their name tags to represent whatever they want. The swastika can be created and used, but [[Stephen Toulouse]], director of [[Xbox Live]] policy and enforcement, said players with the symbol on their name tag will be banned (if someone reports it as inappropriate) from Xbox Live.<ref name="Goldman 2010">{{cite web |last=Goldman |first=Tom |title=Black Ops Swastika Emblems Will Earn Xbox Live Ban |website=escapistmagazine.com |date=2010-11-23 |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105501-Black-Ops-Swastika-Emblems-Will-Earn-Xbox-Live-Ban |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123135409/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105501-Black-Ops-Swastika-Emblems-Will-Earn-Xbox-Live-Ban |archive-date=2010-11-23 }}</ref>

In the ''[[Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular]]'' at [[Disney Hollywood Studios]] in Florida, the swastikas on German trucks, aircraft and actor uniforms in the reenactment of a scene from ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' were removed in 2004.<ref name="Telotte 2008 p.201">{{cite book|title=The Mouse Machine: Disney and Technology|page=201|last=Telotte |first=Jay P. |author-link=Jay Telotte |url=https://archive.org/details/mousemachinedisn0000telo/page/201/mode/2up|url-access=registration|isbn=978-0-252-09263-3|date=2008|publisher=University of Illinois Press |oclc=811409076}}</ref>