European clothing company KA Designs is currently receiving enormous backlash over their most recent line of clothing, which feature a rainbow swastika.
The swastika has historical roots in Asia and India, as an ancient religious icon that symbolises various spiritual values. However, it was repurposed by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s becoming the emblem for the Nazi Party, and associated with racial intolerance and mass murder.
But KA Designs says that they are "questioning boundaries" and attempting to return the swastika back to its original meaning, as an icon of peace, respect, 'zen' and love.
Posts on the company's social media claim that the imagery of the symbol in rainbow colours is the 'new swastika'.
The company told Dazed Magazine that they chose the swastika because they liked the shape, saying: “We really like the symbol in its shape and aesthetics, and we would love to share the beauty of this symbol detached from the hatred associated with it.”
Backlash towards the company began immediately. Many gave the company's Facebook page 1-star reviews, commenting that the company's usage of the swastika was anti-Semitic and insensitive to the many LGBTQ+ people who died during the Holocaust. Others accused the brand of using the controversial symbol for publicity:
After public backlash to the project, KA Designs pulled the offending items from sale, and published another image of the rainbow swastika with a message stating that 'hatred and Nazism have won' and they had 'brought out the worst in people'.
SBS has reached out to KA Designs for comment, but did not receive a response by the time this story was published.
