Magen David Arm Tattoo

Picture is courtesy of Aoife city womanchile from Flickr

Chicago Flag Tattoo

The stars that we see here are NOT Stars of David but three out of the four red hexagrams that adorn the Chicago Flag. These stars stand for: 

Fort Dearborn

The Great Chicago Fire

The  World's Columbian Exposition of 1893

The Century of Progress Exposition in 1933

Each point of each star stands for a certain meaning like: transportation, labor, commerce etc.

Picture is courtesy of kallao from Flickr.

Solomon Seal on Ethiopian Crown

Solomon's Seal on Ethiopian Crown along with a cross (at the top). In the background we see the Lion of Judah. All these were symbols of the late Haile Selassie I (1892-1975).

Picture is courtesy of menfes qeddus from Flickr who Bought it in Addis Ababa.

Yellow Badge on a Nazi Propaganda Stamp

Indian Hexagram Ritual

From: Inman, Thomas (1820-1876) Ancient pagan and modern Christian symbolism (1884)

Sri lantra [Yantra] is an ancient Hindoo [Hindu] emblem. The circle represents the world, in which the living exist; the triangle pointing upwards shows the male creator; and the triangle with the apex downwards the female; distinct, yet united. These have a world within themselves, in which the male is uppermost. In the central circle the image to be worshipped is placed. When used, the figure is placed on the ground, with Brahma to the east, and Laksmi to the west. Then a relic of any saint, or image of Buddha, like a modern papal crucifix, is added, and the shrine for worship is complete. It has now been adopted in Christian churches and Freemasons' lodges. 

Star of David in a Synagogue predating the expulsion from Spain

The Synagogue of Santa María La Blanca in the old Jewish quarter of Toledo, Spain, was Toledo's oldest and largest synagogue. It was built in the 12th century. Right under the columns there is a geometric latticework forming a Star of David (hard to notice). Style: Mudéjar (Moorish) . The Moors were Muslims who remained in Spain after the Christians overtook the country.

Picture is courtesy of FayeB6 from Flickr.

Swastikas that predated the Indian Swastikas

Commonly, we say that the Nazis adopted the Indian swastika, but today I understood that apparently they took it from the people of Troy in the aftermath of discovery of the German archaeologist Heinrich  Schliemann, 1822-1890 who found Troy in his excavations in Turkey. He made a connection between swastikas from Germany Troy and Iran in the frame of the Arian racial doctrine in his book:

Schliemann, Heinrich , Troy and its remains, London: Murray, 1875

In the above picture, we see ceramic disks from this book. These disks are dated to the third century BCE, and are apparently the most ancient swastikas known to archaeologists. Interesting to note that the Indians received swastikas from neighboring countries only hundreds of years later.

See: http://sacred-texts.com/sym/mosy/mosy06.htm

See there also a map of the distribution of the swastika

http://sacred-texts.com/sym/mosy/img/pl03.jpg

This map certainly arouses my envy, and I hope that some day we’ll have a similar detailed map of the distribution of the Star of David.