Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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SWASTIKA

A symbol of the Cross, sometimes called the crux gammata, made up of four Greek gammas joined at their bases. It is of Sanshrit origin and means "good omen." It has several recognized meanings, e.g., rotation of the sun, four points of the compass. It has sometimes been referred to as the crooked cross. It was the emblem of the Nazis in World War II. Seldom used by Christians before the third century, and then only to conceal the Cross from unbelievers.