In one of the scenes, you see all these indians ride in on horses, and they are all carrying shields with various emblems on them. One clearly has a swastika on his shield! Was this completely unintentional or was it some sort of sick, unfunny joke from a crew member?
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every moment of it.
Long before the Nazis, the symbol of the swastika was used in ancient times & various religions.
shareThe swastika was also a symbol used by some American Indian tribes. My father was given an encyclopedia when he was 9 (back in 1933), and in it there are illustrations of various American Indian signs and symbols. When I was a kid and looking through it, I was shocked to see a flat-out swastika (not like the somewhat stylized variant seen in this movie, but the same thing used by the Nazis) among the symbols depicted. Unfortunately Hitler, ever unoriginal, adopted this ancient symbol, seen in many cultures, for his collection of psychopaths, and in so doing permanently perverted it by associating it with something so evil.
As far as the movie goes, I guess you have to credit its writers, producer and director for being authentic enough to include this symbol, even fleetingly (though noticeably). Since Kirk Douglas produced the film, and he's Jewish, I guarantee he would not have included such a sign either unintentionally or as a sick joke.
I once read how the cross predates Christianity
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"I once read how the cross predates Christianity"
A cross is a very simple design. I'm sure that various types of crosses were used as as mere decorations and meaningful symbols for thousands of years before Christianity.
I believe that large Islamic era houses in Cairo have cross shaped main rooms despite being built during or after the crusades.
And probably some swastika designs were used by various Jews for thousands of years before the Nazis used swastikas.
See also Winchester '73 (1953)
https://moviechat.org/tt0043137/Winchester-73/58c704c74e1cf308b935f1a4/Swastika-Shown-in-the-Movie?reply=5a13b6bbe203d70012d80ed1&animate=false
And this episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive.
https://moviechat.org/tt0051327/Wanted-Dead-or-Alive/58c722b95ec57f0478ec1ad2/Bounty-for-a-Bride-episode-swastika-symbol-on-Apache-tent?reply=5b6b772adedbee0014d4a22b&animate=false
And I just accidentally stumbled upon this description of the movie Thunderbirds (1952):
An Oklahoma National Guard unit, comprised mainly of Native Americans, is called up for duty at the start of World War II.
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Chief Whitedeer: [looking at the new division arm patch] Thunderbird, bringer of rain. It is new. Why you change it?
Cpl. Ralph Mogay: I have the old one.
[close-up of Mogay holding the old swastika patch the division had used before]
Cpl. Ralph Mogay: Hitler took our sign.
Chief Whitedeer: Hitler? Oh, the crazy man. You take it back, son.
Cpl. Ralph Mogay: Maybe we will, soon.