Symbols do have immense power in that they serve to represent ideals, ideas, and whole nations. The danger here lies in the lack of education regarding the history and nature of the Rising Sun flag. It has been transformed into what kind be described as an innocent symbol devoid from its historical roots of aggressive nationalism. In this regard, the Rising Sun flag occupies a seemingly grey area here in the west in which it is not only a symbol of oppression to some but also a symbol of globalized Japan. It can be found throughout Japanese culture and products around the world from toys, to poster, and clothing the image of the Rising Sun is a pervasive symbol that permeates on a global scale and in turn seems to become a more innocuous design without any negative connotations. Yet, the image of Imperial Japan’s flag however seems at least to the perspective of much of western society to be a much more benign emblem than the swastika. To many it also brings images of comfort women, the Rape of Nanking, and the brutality of a warmongering military. To many throughout the Asian continent, the Rising Sun symbolizes hostility and serving unwillingly to an empire. Less than a decade earlier it had been used for militaristic and imperialist motivations by an aggressive government seeking to build an empire and enrich itself by any means necessary. The Rising Sun, although a symbol of the Japanese Empire would see its official return again in 1954 when the Japan Self Defense Forces were officially founded following Soviet military and nuclear threats. The flag did not receive an official ban from the government nor from the allied occupation forces. Yet although Japan was also an Axis power responsible for heinous war crimes, Japan did not seem to go through the same deep cultural cleansing of its official and state symbols the way that Germany was following the end of the war. To many Koreans, Filipinos, Chinese, and countless Asian ethnicities, the Rising Sun Flag occupied the same moral space as the swastika and the Nazi flag. During the Second World War and well before, the Empire of Japan used the Rising Sun flag for not just state use or functions but also naval jacks and army banners, cementing its image as a symbol for an aggressive and imperialist Japan. The flag of the Rising Sun was first originally used throughout feudal Japan and during the Meiji Reformation officially became a battle flag for the new imperial military. Western society, media, and mainstream culture demonize the symbol of the Nazi regime yet there is more of lukewarm feeling when it comes to Germany’s old Axis ally. It has also been used as a favorite for more extreme far right political groups who utilize its strong imagery to rally more people to hate as well as a symbol to defend so called ‘white culture.’ Knowing the power of this toxic symbolism both France and Germany passed legislation outlawing the use of Nazi insignias, symbols, and the flag directly following soon after the end of the Second World War. They have used the swastika as a whole to proudly display their so called racial superiority and as a symbol for others to join their hate for immigrants and minorities. Despite the fact that the Third Reich did not last for quite the intended one thousand year reign, its symbols and imagery have left lasting impressions on the modern world.Īlthough it has been 72 years since it has been used as an official state flag, extreme-right wing organizations around the world have appropriated it when they can. (continued) With the Third Reich’s racially motivated goals of cleansing the world of the Untermenschen, or what they viewed as the undesirables most famously through the concentration camps, the Nazi Flag, or Hakenkreuz, has transformed into a symbol of hatred and far right extremism at its peak.
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