Fascist symbolism

Fascist movements are led by a "Leader" (e.g. Duce, Führer, Caudillo) who is publicly idolized in propaganda as the nation's saviour.

[citation needed] The use of symbols, graphics, and other artifacts created by fascist, authoritarian, and totalitarian governments has been noted as a key aspect of their propaganda.

In Germany, the fascist Nazi movement was similar to the Italian Fascists in that they initially used a specifically colored uniform for their movement, the tan-brown colored uniform of the SA paramilitary group earned the group and the Nazis themselves the nickname of the Brownshirts.

Fascist governments often saw the need to change the heraldry of their nations; in Germany, the arms of Coburg, featuring the head of Saint Maurice, was looked down upon for its religious and un-Aryan nature.

Thuringia also saw the need to support the Nazi regime by adding a swastika to the paws of the lion on its coat of arms.

As the Italian Fascists adapted elements of their ethnic heritage to fuel a sense of Nationalism by use of symbolism, so did Nazi Germany.

Other historical symbols that were already in use by the German Army to varying degrees prior to the Nazi Germany, such as the Wolfsangel and Totenkopf, were also used in a new, more industrialized manner on uniforms and insignia.

Several Polish far-right and nationalist organizations have used the falanga sword, most notably by the ONR and NOP as their main identifying symbols.

Many other fascist movements did not win power or were relatively minor regimes in comparison and their symbolism is not well-remembered today in many parts of the world, although the BUF's Flash and Circle was later used by the non-fascist People's Action Party of Singapore.

In alphabetical order by nation: Some neo-Nazi organizations continue to use the swastika, but many have moved away from such inflammatory symbols of early fascism.