Editing Swastika (section)

===Prehistory===
[[File:The Archaeological Monuments and Spaciments of Armenia Volume 6 Armenia Yerevan 1971 p 198.jpg|thumb|Rock painting in the caves of [[Gegham mountains]], Armenia]]
[[File:لاخ مزار.jpg|thumb|The [[Lakh Mazar]], a pre-historic inscription in Iran]]
The earliest known swastikas are from 10,000 BCE{{snd}}part of "an intricate meander pattern of joined-up swastikas" found on a late [[Paleolithic]] figurine of a bird, carved from [[mammoth]] ivory, found in [[Mezine]], Ukraine.<ref>{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Campbell |title=The Flight of the Wild Gander |date=2002 |page=117}}</ref> However, the age of 10,000 BCE is a conservative estimate, and the true age may be as old as 17,000 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wpPnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 |title=Unlocking the Prehistory of America |publisher=Rosen Publishing |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4777-2806-2 |editor-last=Joseph |editor-first=Frank |edition=1st |series= |location=New York |page=52 |language=en}}</ref> It has been suggested that this swastika may be a stylised picture of a [[stork]] in flight.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Flight of the Wild Gander |last=Campbell |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Campbell |date=2002 |page=117}}</ref> As the carving was found near [[Phallus|phallic]] objects, this may also support the idea that the pattern was a fertility symbol.<ref name="BBC News 2014"/>

In the mountains of [[Iran]], there are swastikas or spinning wheels inscribed on stone walls, which are estimated to be more than 7,000 years old. One instance is in Khorashad, [[Birjand]], on the holy wall Lakh Mazar.<ref>''Persian Sea'' magazine (2014). [https://parssea.persianblog.ir/Dvbe4xKanwIp7mnqw7yn-%D9%86%D9%82%D8%B4-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%DA%AF%D9%86%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%8C-%D8%A8%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%88-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%B4-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C "The global role of the swastika in Iranian treasures, idols and carpets"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506210234/https://parssea.persianblog.ir/Dvbe4xKanwIp7mnqw7yn-%D9%86%D9%82%D8%B4-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%DA%AF%D9%86%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%8C-%D8%A8%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%88-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%B4-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C |date=6 May 2021 }}. Iranian Studies. Accessed 19 April 2021. In [[Persian language|Persian]].</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://civilica.com/doc/541074/|title = کتیبه های خوسف ولاخ مزار بیرجند، جک گویی پارتها (Parthians Joking) یا کتیبه های درست دینان سلطنت قباد؟|journal= Civilica |language= fa |date = 25 September 1395 |access-date= 18 February 2022 | last1=بشاش | first1=رسول }}</ref>

Mirror-image swastikas (clockwise and counter-clockwise) have been found on ceramic pottery in the [[Devetashka cave]], Bulgaria, dated to 6,000 BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/4220126|title=Eight Thousand Years Ago Proto-Thracians Depicted the Evolution of the Divine – English|first=Stefania|last=Dimitrova|journal=Courrier of UNESCO|date=30 January 1996|via=www.academia.edu}}</ref>

In Asia, swastika symbols first appear in the archaeological record around<ref name="Kathleen M. Nadeau 2010 87" /> 3000 BCE in the Indus Valley Civilisation.<ref name="Heller 2008" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Stupa and Swastika: Historical Urban Planning Principles in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley|page=16|author=Mohan Pant, Shūji Funo|publisher=NUS Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-K5_Z8qsJEC&q=swastika&pg=PR16|isbn=978-9971-69-372-5|date=2007}}</ref> It also appears in the [[Bronze Age|Bronze]] and [[Iron Age]] cultures around the [[Black Sea]] and the [[Caspian Sea]]. In all these cultures, swastika symbols do not appear to occupy any marked position or significance, appearing as just one form of a series of similar symbols of varying complexity. In the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] religion of [[Ancient Persia|Persia]], the swastika was a symbol of the revolving sun, infinity, or continuing creation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.websters-dictionary-online.com/definitions/swastika|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419073535/http://www.websters-dictionary-online.com/definitions/swastika?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=swastika&sa=Search%23906|archive-date=19 April 2013|title=Dictionary – Definition of swastika}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unique-design.net/library/word/symbol.html|title=A symbol is a thought, a drawing, an action, an archetype, etcetera of the conceptualization of a thing that exists either in reality or in the imagination.|first=Morning Star Athbhreith Athbheochan Kwisatz Haderach|last=Druid|access-date=17 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205165736/http://www.unique-design.net/library/word/symbol.html|archive-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> It is one of the most common symbols on [[Mesopotamia]]n coins.<ref name="britswast" />
Some researchers put forth the hypothesis that the swastika moved westward from the Indian subcontinent to Finland, [[Scandinavia]], the [[Scottish Highlands]] and other parts of Europe.<ref>Staff (ndg) [https://www.ancient-code.com/researchers-find-the-swastika-predates-indus-valley-civilization/ "Researchers find the Swastika predates the Indus Valley Civilization"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016123605/https://www.ancient-code.com/researchers-find-the-swastika-predates-indus-valley-civilization/ |date=16 October 2017 }} ''Ancient Code''; citing :lead project investigator" Joy Sen from the [[Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur]]</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2021}} In England, neolithic or Bronze Age stone carvings of the symbol have been found on [[Ilkley Moor]], such as the [[Swastika Stone]].

Swastikas have also been found on pottery in archaeological digs in Africa, in the area of [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]] and on pottery at the [[Jebel Barkal]] temples,<ref>Dunham, Dows "A Collection of 'Pot-Marks' from Kush and Nubia", Kush, 13, 131–147, 1965</ref> in [[Iron Age]] designs of the northern [[Caucasus]] ([[Koban culture]]), and in [[Neolithic China]] in the [[Majiayao culture|Majiayao]] culture.<ref name="GW">{{cite book |last1=Guozhen |first1=Wang |title=Collection of Ancient Chinese Cultural Relics, Volume 1: Primitive Society (1.7 million – 4000 BC) and The Xia and Shang Dynasties (21st – 11th Century BC) |date=1 December 2019 |publisher=ATF Press |isbn=978-1-925371-29-1 |pages=123, 115, v |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGDwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 |language=en}}</ref>

Swastikas are also seen in Egypt during the Coptic period. Textile number T.231-1923 held at the V&A Museum in London includes small swastikas in its design. This piece was found at Qau-el-Kebir, near [[Asyut]], and is dated between 300 and 600 CE.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O184378/textile-fragment-unknown/ | title=Textile fragment | publisher=V&A Museum | access-date=14 September 2017}}</ref>

The ''Tierwirbel'' (the German for "animal whorl" or "whirl of animals"<ref>a term coined by Anna Roes, "Tierwirbel", IPEK, 1936–1937</ref>) is a characteristic motif in Bronze Age Central Asia, the [[Eurasian Steppe]], and later also in Iron Age [[Scythian]] and [[Iron Age Europe|European]] ([[Baltic peoples|Baltic]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Marija Gimbutas |url=http://www.vaidilute.com/books/gimbutas/gimbutas-07.html |title=The Balts before the Dawn of History |website=Vaidilute.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110165543/http://www.vaidilute.com/books/gimbutas/gimbutas-07.html |archive-date=10 January 2012 |author-link=Marija Gimbutas }}</ref> and [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]]) culture, showing rotational symmetric arrangement of an [[Animal style|animal motif]], often four birds' heads. Even wider diffusion of this "Asiatic" theme has been proposed to the Pacific and even North America (especially [[Moundville Archaeological Site|Moundville]]).<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Structural Anthropology'' (1959), p. 267.</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="200" heights="200">
File:Samarra bowl.jpg|The [[Samarra culture|Samarra]] bowl, from Iraq, circa 4,000 BCE, held at the [[Pergamonmuseum]], Berlin. The swastika in the centre of the design is a reconstruction.<ref>Freed, Stanley A. ''Research Pitfalls as a Result of the Restoration of Museum Specimens'', Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 376, The Research Potential of Anthropological Museum Collections pp. 229–245, December 1981.</ref>
File:IndusValleySeals swastikas.JPG|Swastika seals from [[Mohenjo-daro]], Pakistan, of the [[Indus Valley civilisation]], circa 2,100–1,750 BCE, preserved at the [[British Museum]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dutta |first=Rita |date=2010-12-01 |title=Swastika Symbol on Bharhut Stone Railing: A Case Study |journal=Ancient Asia |language=en |volume=2 |pages=147–154 |doi=10.5334/aa.10211 |issn=2042-5937 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
File:Swastika iran.jpg|A swastika necklace excavated from [[Marlik]], [[Gilan]] province, northern Iran, circa 1,200–1,050 BCE
Swastika in Ashoka Barabar Caves edict.jpg|Sauwastika monogram at the end of [[Barabar Caves|Karna Chaupar Cave]] edict of Ashoka
</gallery>

====Caucasus====
[[File:Arevakhach.svg|thumb|upright 0.5|Armenian ''[[arevakhach]]'']]

In Armenia the swastika is called the "[[arevakhach]]" and "kerkhach" ({{langx|hy|կեռխաչ}})<ref name="Concise Armenian Encyclopedia p. 663" />{{dubious|date=December 2014}} and is the ancient symbol of eternity and eternal light (i.e. God). Swastikas in Armenia were found on petroglyphs from the copper age, predating the Bronze Age. During the Bronze Age it was depicted on [[cauldron]]s, belts, [[medallion]]s and other items.<ref>T. Wilson [https://archive.org/details/theswastika00wilsuoft The swastika, the earlist known symbol and its migrations], pp. 807, 951</ref>

Swastikas can also be seen on early Medieval churches and fortresses, including the principal tower in Armenia's historical capital city of [[Ani]].<ref name="Concise Armenian Encyclopedia p. 663" /> The same symbol can be found on [[Armenian carpet]]s, cross-stones (''[[khachkar]]'') and in medieval manuscripts, as well as on modern monuments as a [[Armenian eternity sign|symbol of eternity]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Epec69LGa0IC&q=symbol+of+eternity+modern+armenia&pg=PA148|title=Armenia|isbn=978-1-84162-345-0|last1=Holding|first1=Nicholas|last2=Holding|first2=Deirdre|date=2011|page=148|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides }}</ref>{{clear left}}

Old [[petroglyph]]s of four-beam and other swastikas were recorded in [[Dagestan]], in particular, among the [[Avars (Caucasus)|Avars]].<ref name="Debirov">{{cite book |surname=Debirov |given=Paruk M.  |title=Резьба по камню в Дагестане |trans-title=Stone carving in Dagestan |language=ru |url=https://instituteofhistory.ru/library/publications/rezba-po-kamnyu-v-dagestane |place=Moscow |publisher=[[Nauka (publisher)|Nauka]] |date=1966}}</ref> According to [[Vakhushti of Kartli]], the tribal banner of the [[Avar Khanate|Avar khans]] depicted a wolf with a standard with a double-spiral swastika.<ref>[[Vakhushti of Kartli]]. ''[[Description of the Kingdom of Georgia]]''.</ref>

Petroglyphs with swastikas were depicted on medieval [[Vainakh tower architecture]] (see sketches by scholar Bruno Plaetschke from the 1920s).<ref name="Plaetschke">{{cite book |surname=Plaetschke |given=Bruno |title=Die Tschetschenen: Forschungen zur Völkerkunde des nordöstlichen Kaukasus auf Grund von Reisen in den Jahren 1918–20 und 1927/28 |work=NAHCHEWORLD , Сайт истории народа Nahche |trans-title=The Chechens |language=de |date=1929 |url=https://nahcheworld.com/%D0%BA%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B0-%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%B5-%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%86%D1%8B/ |series=Veröffentlichungen des Geographischen Instituts der [[University of Königsberg|Universität Königsberg]] Pr., 11 |publisher=Friedrichsen, de Gruyter & Co m. b. H. |place=Hamburg |archive-date=23 January 2022 |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123161107/https://nahcheworld.com/%d0%ba%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b3%d0%b0-%d0%b1%d1%80%d1%83%d0%bd%d0%be-%d0%bf%d0%bb%d0%b5%d1%87%d0%ba%d0%b5-%d1%87%d0%b5%d1%87%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%86%d1%8b/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Thus, a rectangular swastika was made in engraved form on the entrance of a residential tower in the settlement [[Khimoy]], [[Chechnya]].<ref name="Plaetschke" />

<gallery>
File:The petroglyph with swastikas, in Geghama mountains, Armenia.jpg|The petroglyph with swastikas, [[Gegham mountains]], Armenia, circa 8,000 – 5,000 BCE<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fundamentalarmenology.am/Article/9/180/ROCK-CARVINGS-OF-ARMENIA.html|title=Rock Carvings of Armenia, Fundamental Armenology, v. 2, 2015, pp. 1-22|first=K.S.|last=Tokhatyan|publisher=Institute of History of NAS RA}}</ref>
File:Swastika of Avars Daghestan.JPG|[[Avars (Caucasus)|Avar]] old petroglyph<ref name="Debirov" />
File:Swastika avarian Dagh.JPG|[[Avars (Caucasus)|Avar]] folk swastika
File:Armenian Khachkar with Swastikas Sanahin Armenia 1.jpg|[[Khachkar]] with swastikas and [[hexafoil]]s in [[Sanahin]], Armenia
File:Символы_свастики_на_арке_средневековой_башни_в_Чечне.jpg|Swastika on the medieval tower arche in [[Khimoy]], Chechnya
</gallery>

====Europe====
{{See also|Swastika (Germanic Iron Age)}}

Iron Age attestations of swastikas can be associated with [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] cultures such as the [[Illyrians]],<ref name="Stipčević">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLcWAQAAIAAJ&q=swastika|title=The Illyrians: history and culture|first=Aleksandar|last=Stipčević|date=1977|publisher=Noyes Press|access-date=14 February 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-8155-5052-5}}</ref> [[Indo-Iranians]], [[Celt]]s, [[Ancient Greeks|Greeks]], [[Swastika (Germanic Iron Age)|Germanic peoples]] and [[Slavs]]. In [[Sintashta culture]]'s "[[Country of Towns]]", ancient [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] settlements in southern Russia, it has been found a great concentration of some of the oldest swastika patterns.<ref name="ru-sled.ru"/>

Swastika shapes have been found on numerous artefacts from [[Iron Age]] Europe.<ref name="Concise Armenian Encyclopedia p. 663" /><ref>Jacob G. Ghazarian (2006), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cKHYAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Armenian+symbol+of+eternity%22 The Mediterranean legacy in early Celtic Christianity: a journey from Armenia to Ireland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105083219/https://books.google.com/books?id=cKHYAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Armenian+symbol+of+eternity%22&redir_esc=y |date=5 January 2023 }}'', Bennett & Bloom, pp. 263, p. 171 "...{{spaces}}Quite a different version of the Celtic triskelion, and perhaps the most common pre-Christian symbolism found throughout Armenian cultural tradition, is the round clockwise (occasionally counter-clockwise) whirling sun-like spiral fixed at a centre{{snd}}the Armenian symbol of eternity."</ref><ref>K. B. Mehr, M. Markow, ''Mormon Missionaries enter Eastern Europe'', Brigham Young University Press, 2002, pp. 399, p. 252 "...{{spaces}}She viewed a tall building with spires and circular windows along the top of the walls. It was engraved with sun stones, a typical symbol of eternity in ancient Armenian architecture."</ref><ref name="Stipčević"/><ref name="MigSym" /><!--Not all the cultures listed may be in that ref; feel free to add those that are and remove those that are not – or locate additional refs so long as they meet WP:RS.-->

The swastika shape appears on various Germanic [[Migration Period]] and [[Viking Age]] artifacts, such as the 3rd-century [[Værløse Fibula]] from Zealand, Denmark, the [[Goths|Gothic]] spearhead from [[Brest-Litovsk]], today in Belarus, the 9th-century [[Snoldelev Stone]] from [[Ramsø]], Denmark, and numerous Migration Period [[bracteate]]s drawn left-facing or right-facing.<ref name="OLDTIDENS" />

The [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|pagan]] [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[ship burial]] at [[Sutton Hoo]], England, contained numerous items bearing swastikas, now housed in the collection of the [[Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge|Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology]].<ref name="DAVIDSON83" />{{Failed verification|date=August 2017}} A swastika is clearly marked on a hilt and sword belt found at [[Bifrons]] in Kent, in a grave of about the 6th century.

[[Hilda Ellis Davidson]] hypothesised that the swastika symbol was associated with [[Thor]], possibly representing his [[Mjolnir]]{{snd}}symbolic of thunder{{snd}}and possibly being connected to the Bronze Age sun cross.<ref name="DAVIDSON83" /> Davidson cites "many examples" of swastika symbols from Anglo-Saxon graves of the pagan period, with particular prominence on cremation urns from the cemeteries of East Anglia.<ref name="DAVIDSON83" /> Some of the swastikas on the items, on display at the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, are depicted with such care and art that, according to Davidson, it must have possessed special significance as a [[funerary art|funerary symbol]].<ref name="DAVIDSON83" /> The [[runic inscription]] on the 8th-century [[Sæbø sword]] has been taken as evidence of the swastika as a symbol of Thor in [[Norse paganism]].

The bronze frontispiece of a ritual pre-Christian ({{circa|350–50 BCE}}) shield found in the [[River Thames]] near [[Battersea Bridge]] (hence "[[Battersea Shield]]") is embossed with 27 swastikas in bronze and red enamel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=compass&_IXSR_=wt9&_IXSS_=%2524%2bwith%2ball_unique_id_index%2bis%2b%2524%3dOBJ1172%26_IXNOMATCHES_%3dgraphical%252fno_matches%252ehtml%26_IXMAXHITS_%3d1%26_IXDB_%3dcompass%26_IXSESSION_%3d7q_PyrzUX1l%26_IXFIRST_%3d1&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&_IXSPFX_=graphical/full/&_IXimg=ps260150.jpg&submit-button=summary|title=The Battersea Shield|publisher=[[British Museum]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324011256/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=compass|archive-date=24 March 2007}}</ref> An [[Ogham]] stone found in Aglish, [[County Kerry]], Ireland ([[CIIC]] 141) was modified into an early Christian gravestone, and was decorated with a [[cross pattée]] and two swastikas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/stone/aglis_1.html |title=CISP entry |publisher=Ucl.ac.uk |access-date=2 March 2010}}</ref> The [[Book of Kells]] ({{circa|800 CE}}) contains swastika-shaped ornamentation. At the Northern edge of [[Ilkley Moor]] in West Yorkshire, there is a swastika-shaped pattern engraved in a stone known as the [[Swastika Stone]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aenigmatis.com/prehistoric-sites/england/england-3.htm|title=Megalithic Sites in England – Photo Archive|author=Martin J Powell}}</ref> A number of swastikas have been found embossed in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galician]] metal pieces and carved in stones, mostly from the [[Castro culture]] period, although there also are contemporary examples (imitating old patterns for decorative purposes).<ref>Domínguez Fontela, J. (1938): [http://paxinasdaguarda.blogspot.com.es/2015/02/ceramica-de-santa-tecla-ii.html ''Cerámica de Santa Tecla. Un hallazgo importantísimo''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323155012/http://paxinasdaguarda.blogspot.com.es/2015/02/ceramica-de-santa-tecla-ii.html |date=23 March 2018 }} in Faro de Vigo.</ref><ref>Romero, Bieito (2009): Xeometrías Máxicas de Galicia. Ir Indo, Vigo.</ref>

[[File:Swastika from Baltic.jpg|thumb|upright 0.75|''[[Ugunskrusts]]'' motif]]
The ancient [[Balts|Baltic]] thunder cross symbol (''pērkona krusts'' (cross of [[Perkons]]); also fire cross, ''[[ugunskrusts]]'') is a swastika symbol used to decorate objects, traditional clothing and in [[Excavation (archaeology)|archaeological excavations]].<ref name="Guénon-2001">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQRWnf2JflQC&q=lithuania+use+of+swastika&pg=PA62|title=The Symbolism of the Cross|last=Guénon|first=René|date=2001|publisher=Sophia Perennis|isbn=978-0-900588-65-5|page=62|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://latvians.com/index.php?en/CFBH/Zimes/zimes-10-rhetoric.ssi#WIKFN3|title=Latvia and the Swastika|website=latvians.com|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref>

According to painter Stanisław Jakubowski, the "little sun" (Polish: ''słoneczko'') is an [[Early Slavs|Early Slavic]] pagan symbol of the Sun; he claimed it was engraved on wooden monuments built near the final resting places of fallen Slavs to represent eternal life. The symbol was first seen in his collection of Early Slavic symbols and architectural features, which he named ''Prasłowiańskie motywy architektoniczne'' (Polish: ''Early Slavic Architectural Motifs''). His work was published in 1923.<ref name="Old Slavic Symbols" />

The [[Boreyko coat of arms]] with a red swastika was used by several noble families in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref>{{cite book |surname=Gajl |given=Tadeusz |date=2007 <!--|author-link=Tadeusz Gajl--> |title=Polish Armorial Middle Ages to 20th Century |url= http://gajl.wielcy.pl/herby_nazwiska.php?lang=en&herb=borejko |place=Gdańsk |publisher=L&L |isbn=978-83-60597-10-1 |via=Gajl.wielcy.pl}}</ref>

According to [[Boris Kuftin]], the [[Russians]] often used swastikas as a decorative element and as the basis of the ornament on traditional weaving products.<ref name="Kuftin">{{cite book |surname=Kuftin |given=Boris A. <!--|author-link=Boris Kuftin--> |title=Материальная культура Русской Мещеры. Ч. 1: Женская одежда: рубаха, понева, сарафан |trans-title=Material culture of Russian Meshchera. Part 1: Women's clothing: shirt, poniova, sarafan |series=Proceedings of the State Museum of the Central Industrial Region, 3 |language=ru |place=Moscow |publisher=Tip. "Tajninskij pečatnik" |date=1926 |oclc=490308640 |pages=62–64 |url=https://www.perunica.ru/tradicii/9947-kuftin-ba-materialnaja-kultura-russkoj-meschery-1926-pdf-rus.html}}</ref> Many can be seen on a women's folk costume from the [[Meshchera Lowlands]].<ref name="Kuftin" />

According to some authors, Russian names popularly associated with the swastika include ''veterok'' ("breeze"),<ref name="echoMsk" />  ''ognevtsi'' ("little flames"), "geese", "hares" (a towel with a swastika was called a towel with "hares"), or "little horses".<ref name="Bogdasarov2002" /> The similar word "''koleso''" ("wheel") was used for rosette-shaped amulets, such as a [[hexafoil]]-thunder wheel [[File:Thunder mark (1).svg|30px]]) in folklore, particularly in the [[Russian North]].<ref name="Ivanits">{{cite book |surname=Ivanits |given=Linda J. |date=1989 |title=Russian Folk Belief |publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]] |pages=14, 17 |isbn=978-0-7656-3088-9}}</ref><ref name="Garshol">{{cite journal |surname=Garshol |given=Lars Marius |date=2021 |title=Olav's Rose, Perun's Mark, Taranis's Wheel |url=https://digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/vol7/iss4/7/|journal=Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=121–151}}</ref>

An object very much like a hammer or a double axe is depicted among the magical symbols on the drums of [[Sami people|Sami]] ''[[noaidi]]'', used in their religious ceremonies before Christianity was established. The name of the Sami thunder god was [[Horagalles]], thought to derive from "Old Man Thor" (''Þórr karl''). Sometimes on the drums, a male figure with a hammer-like object in either hand is shown, and sometimes it is more like a cross with crooked ends, or a swastika.<ref name="DAVIDSON83" />

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File:ReceBogaSwargi.svg|Ancient symbol the [[Ashtray from Biała#Hands of God|Hands of God]] or "Hands of Svarog" (Polish: ''Ręce Swaroga'')<ref>{{cite book |last=Grzegorzewic |first=Ziemisław |date=2016 |title=O Bogach i ludziach. Praktyka i teoria Rodzimowierstwa Słowiańskiego |trans-title=About the Gods and people. Practice and theory of Slavic Heathenism |language=pl |location=Olsztyn |publisher=Stowarzyszenie "Kołomir" |page=57 |isbn=978-83-940180-8-5}}</ref>
File:Laimas krusts Lielvardes josta.jpg|Swastika on the [[Lielvārde Belt]], Latvia
File:POL COA Boreyko.svg|[[Boreyko coat of arms]]
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