In article ,
Miss Perspicacia Tick wrote:

Actually, Nick, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the original meaning of
the symbol slightly sinister and that it was adopted by Hinduism as a symbol
of peace? The reason Hitler adopted it as the symbol for the Nazis was
because of the ideals of the Aryans - i.e. they wanted to create a utopian
society and considrered themselves to be superior to the rest of mankind.

No. It has been used in this country for at least the past 700 years,
and is even older as a Christian symbol. I don't know how far back
it goes as a symbol in India and the Himalayas (it is not JUST a
Hindu symbol), but a lot further.

The term Aryan originally referred to a linguistic grouping, including
the people who spoke the Indo-European languages. I.e. most of Europe,
much of India (definitely including Hindus) but not the Finns, Basques
or Hungarians.

These days, 'aryan' is a byword for white supremacy and right-wing
extremists (prime example, the Aryan Nations, the paramilitary wing of the
Church of Jesus Christ Christian).

That is true, but that bunch of lunatic dogmatists are very keen
on rewriting history to match their prejudices. I will have no
truck with them.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.