An emblem in the form of an even-length cross, with the arms bent at right angles, clockwise or anti-clockwise. A symbol of prosperity and good fortune, it was used in ancient Mesopotamia, in early Christian and Byzantine art, in South and Central America, and among the Hindus and Buddhists of India. In 1910 the German poet Guido von List proposed the swastika (German, Hakenkreuz ‘hooked cross’) as a symbol for all anti-Semitic organizations in the mistaken belief that it was Teutonic in origin. The Nazi Party adopted it in 1919, incorporated it (1935) into the national flag of the Third Reich, and made it a symbol of German national depravity.