# So the BBC shows a swastika
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 6, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600 "2006-08-06T20:28:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/21 "2006-08-07T22:50:58Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> No rewarmed Wagner sparking race hate
_I don’t need no Strauss around me
And I don’t need Ludwig to calm me
I have seen the stage for Parsifal
Don’t think I’ll need anything at all_
And so on. Please don’t drag music into it. Or be consistent and criticise Beethoven for also inspiring Hitler.
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### Author:  [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/22 "2006-08-08T00:28:07Z")
As I’m writing this, the number of views to this post is 888.
Just thought I’d share.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/23 "2006-08-08T04:29:32Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> _I don’t need no Strauss around me
> And I don’t need Ludwig to calm me
> I have seen the stage for Parsifal
> Don’t think I’ll need anything at all_
Great one!
> [@](#):
>
> And so on. Please don’t drag music into it. Or be consistent and criticise Beethoven for also inspiring Hitler.
OK, it was a bad joke. But how did old Ludwig Van inspire Hitler?
> [@Tikki](#):
>
> As I’m writing this, the number of views to this post is 888.
Hearst’s [Happy Hooligan](http://www.toonopedia.com/hooligan.htm)! 😉
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### Author:  [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/24 "2006-08-08T07:56:34Z")
> [@tomndebb](#):
>
> That photo is entirely innocent and should be left alone.
Exactly. The symbol in the picture is a traditional good luck symbol from the Indian subcontinent; its used (amongst other things) at weddings and the such like to symbolise luck for the new couple; as it stands in that picture, its not offensive, and is entirely within context. **Quartz** , you’re reading too much into it, with a very post-WWII, Western European slant.
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### Author:  [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2006, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/25 "2006-08-08T09:12:16Z")
> [@Angua](#):
>
> Exactly. The symbol in the picture is a traditional good luck symbol from the Indian subcontinent; its used (amongst other things) at weddings and the such like to symbolise luck for the new couple; as it stands in that picture, its not offensive, and is entirely within context. **Quartz** , you’re reading too much into it, with a very post-WWII, Western European slant.
Indeed. See these BBC News pages from early last year: [Origins of the Swastika](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4183467.stm) and [Hindus want to ‘reclaim’ swastika](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4188141.stm)
But, true though it is, I think this argument is beside the point. Quartz linked to a news page – if there had been a neo-nazi rally with Swastika banners, that would have been news too, and the BBC would likely have had photos. The first page I linked to above showed the Nazi version of the swastika, using it perfectly legitimately to illustrate a story. By doing this, the BBC is in no way endorsing the activities of the Nazi party, they are simply reporting the news. If I had a pound for every time the BBC has displayed a swastika in one of their TV programmes or publications, I wouldn’t have my bank manager breathing down my neck.
The swastika has been used, and still is, by violent racists, but it is the racism that is the problem, not the symbol itself. To avoid any use of it at all, no matter what the reason, smacks to me of superstition of the most primitive sort.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2006, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/26 "2006-08-08T09:23:03Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> OK, it was a bad joke. But how did old Ludwig Van inspire Hitler?
Well, he liked the ninth symphony enough to have it played on two of his birthdays.
My point is the opposite - that Beethoven isn’t to blame for fascism, and nor should Wagner be tainted in the same way.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2006, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/27 "2006-08-09T08:14:27Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> My point is the opposite - that Beethoven isn’t to blame for fascism, and nor should Wagner be tainted in the same way.
I guess Wagner = Nazi has become such a commonplace that I didn’t even think to question the connection.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/28 "2006-08-09T08:38:16Z")
Fair enough - Wikipedia gives a good summation of just how complex the issue really is, and how difficult it is to draw any firm conclusions: [Richard Wagner - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner#Controversies)
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### Author:  [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/29 "2006-08-09T13:38:50Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#):
>
> The swastika is a perfectly valid hindu symbol. Had this been an American site I’m sure there’d be trouble…
:dubious: Why?
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/30 "2006-08-09T18:53:33Z")
In China, one of my friends frequently wore a swastika on a necklace. At first, I was a bit thrown, then I realized it just meant good luck to her.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/31 "2006-08-09T19:09:03Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#):
>
> Sniff. ‘Tis a thing of beauty. Nae a word could b’ said 'gainst ye.
Yeah, but if he don’t eat his meat, he canna have any pudding.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-bbc-shows-a-swastika/367600/32 "2006-08-10T05:21:38Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#):
>
> :dubious: Why?
I guess because Americans are stereotypically more prone to lawsuits and flying off the handle when we’re full of prunes.
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