No, the swastika can't be rehabilitated

An international effort to return the Nazi symbol to its peaceful roots is deeply misguided

Swastika
(Image credit: (Marc Asnin/CORBIS SABA))

If you ventured into a tattoo parlor yesterday, you might have thought you were witnessing the second coming of the Third Reich.

At some 120 studios around the world, tattoo artists were offering their customers a chance to have a free swastika permanently inked on their skin. The giveaway wasn't a mass Nazi revival, but part of "Learn to Love the Swastika" day — a controversial campaign to reclaim a symbol that for thousands of years served as a Hindu and Buddhist sign of luck, peace, and strength. That was, of course, before Adolf Hitler got his hands on it.

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Theunis Bates is a senior editor at The Week's print edition. He has previously worked for Time, Fast Company, AOL News and Playboy.