The Swăstika Or Svastika.

The amuletic sign 卐, which is known as “swǎstika,” “gammadion,” “fylfot” and “croix-pattée,” is one of the oldest known, and was prob-ably invented by the primitive Aryans. The native Indian name of the sign is, of course, “ sw⃎stika,” which the philologists tell us means something like “fortunate,” or “lucky” ; it is derived from su, “well,” and asti, “being.” The name “gam-madion,” i.e. the cross with Gammas, was given to it because the short lines at right angles to the arms make each resemble Gamma, a letter of the Greek alphabet. Some of the early Christian mystics saw in the two lines at right angles a symbol of Christ as the corner-stone, and the architects and designers of the Middle Ages used the Gamma freely in their reliefs and patterns. Thus four of them grouped with their angles towards each other made the form of the Greek cross https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315030050/d6aab48f-28d0-48ea-a316-e04245f8d0a9/content/ch17_page331-02_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>.