page_title: Western use of the swastika in the early 20th century
section_title: United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Western use of the swastika in the early 20th century / Europe / United Kingdom
context_page_description: The swastika is an ancient Indo-European religious symbol with the earliest known example found in Mezine, modern Ukraine, that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross with four legs each bent at 90 degrees in either right-facing form or its mirrored left-facing form. It is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and dates back at least 11,000 years.
  The swastika symbol became a popular symbol of luck in the Western world in the early 20th century, as it had long been in Asia, and was often used for ornamentation. The Nazi Party adopted the symbol in the 1920s, and its use in Western countries faded after the Nazi association became dominant in the 1930s. In recent decades many public swastikas have been removed or covered over, although others have been deliberately retained as part of debate about historical preservation.
context_section_description: The Anglo-Indian author Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), who was strongly influenced by Indian culture, used a swastika as his personal emblem on the covers and flyleaves of many editions of his books, along with the elephant, signifying his affinity with India.  With the rise of Nazism, Kipling ceased to use the swastika. One of his Just So Stories, "The Crab That Played With The Sea", included an elaborate full-page illustration by Kipling including a stone bearing what was called "a magic mark" (a swastika); some later editions of the stories blotted out the mark on the stone, but left the caption unaltered, leaving readers puzzled.
  During the First World War, the swastika was used as the emblem of the British National War Savings Committee.
  The swastika was also used as a symbol by the Boy Scouts in Britain, and worldwide. According to "Johnny" Walker, the earliest Scouting use was on the first Thanks Badge introduced in 1911. Robert Baden-Powell's 1922 Medal of Merit design added a swastika to the Scouting fleur-de-lis as a token of good luck for the person receiving the medal. Like Kipling, Baden-Powell would have come across this symbol in India. During 1934 many Scouters requested a change of design because of the use of the swastika by the Nazis. A new British Medal of Merit was issued in 1935.
  A bank in Bolton has refused to remove swastika mosaic tiles from the entry of a branch office constructed in 1927. A bank spokesperson replied to critics noting that "At that time, these symbols were commonly used as architectural decoration."
  Located on the Woodhouse Crag, on the northern edge of Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire there is a swastika-shaped pattern engraved in a stone, known as the Swastika Stone. The figure in the foreground of the picture is a 20th-century replica; the original carving can be seen a little further away, at the centre-left of the picture.
  There are both left- and right-facing swastikas on the war memorial at the entrance to Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
  There is a swastika-like tile pattern on the floor of the entrance hall of Upminster Bridge tube station in London, opened in 1934.
  The druids in the mid-1920s adorned their dress with swastikas.
  There is a Fylfot made into the brickwork on a building inside the British Aerospace factory in Broughton in Wales. It is unknown why the Fylfot was put on a brick but it has been suggested it was done so because it was an ancient Asian peace symbol. The current Broughton site which makes wings for the Airbus has a history of fighter plane construction going back to WWI.
  The Royal Air Force's 273 Squadron adopted a cruciform fylfot as opposed to the Nazi Swastika which was a reversed fylfot, which it used as a squadron badge. It was around since the earliest RAF in 1918 and was an emblem for the Ceylon Fighter Defence in 1939.
  The Essex County Council headquarters in Chelmsford features engraved swastika facing both left and right. Constructed beginning in 1928, the building was finished in 1939, the same year Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. The architectural design had been finalized years before. 
  Many churches and cathedrals in the UK feature swastika motifs.
caption: Thanks Badge used in Scouting