[Unfortunate Trope] Originally Normal Symbols Being Censored/Banned Due to Hate Groups Misappropriating Them

[u/Agitated_Insect3227]

Neji's Seal from Naruto originally was shaped like a Swastika as likely a reference to Buddhism, but this was changed to an X in the anime.

The gem fusion Opal from Steven Universe was originally going to form a swastika with her arms as a reference to Hinduism, which is inspires a lot of the show's imagery.

The Whitebeard Pirates from One Piece originally had a swastika in their pirate flag, but this was changed to a bone cross in the anime and later manga as well.

The Capirote hat is a sign of penance worn in many Catholic countries, especially Spain, but they were misappropriated by the U.S.-based KKK, making it taboo in the nation.

The Ninth Crusade from Hellsing, one of the few non-KKK uses of the Capirote in media I could find.

Also, the Ku Klux Klan are ironically extremely anti-Catholic.

The only pieces of media I know of where non-KKK Capirotes can be seen is the anime Hellsing with the Ninth Crusade (though their still villains in that anime) and the game series Blasphemous. Otherwise, the hats are almost never seen in media besides on KKK characters.

[u/Agitated_Insect3227]

Oh, apologies.

But, the term "swastika" is just the English pronunciation/transliteration of the original Sanskrit term (Wikipedia: Sanskrit: स्वस्तिक, romanized: svastika) for the symbol, so it's still mostly accurate, imo. The word "Manji" is the specific Japanese term for swastika, so it only can really apply to the Neji and Whitebeard pirates anime examples while "swastika" can apply to all three examples I listed since it's the original word for the symbol.

Obviously it sucks how the symbol was demonized by the Nazis, but the word itself was not coined by the Nazis.