[jg18]

Here's the original article.

Spoiler:

My working hypothesis is that whichever Marine owned the flag was either a Nazi sympathizer or quite possibly a total idiot who didn't know what the flag meant (although if that were true, you'd wonder how he got it in the first place). He then either didn't tell the others what it meant or didn't know. But that the entire unit was full of Nazi sympathizers seems implausible to me -- or maybe I'm just naïve.

FWIW, I didn't recognize it, although it does have a chilling look to it IMO.

EDIT: Poll question and thread title are slightly adjusted in response to comments.

[watsisname]

Ah, the double Sig rune, based off of Sowilo from the Elder Futhark.  Silly Nazis and their rune lore.

[Dragon]

Here's what you get for sleeping through history lessons.
Also, those wacky Nazis ruined so many good symbols. To think Swastika was once a good luck symbol. And this was most likely an ordinary rune from some ancient rune alphabet, until somebody at SS noticed it'd make a good logo.

[Flipside]

Actually, the term 'SS' is not a German one, and the symbols are actually just two stylized lightning bolts to represent the 'Storm' of the Stormtroopers.

And I struggle a little to believe that these guys didn't know what the flag meant, and thought it was one for their own unit. As far as I'm aware any military unit absolutely grinds its history and its symbols into the troops serving for it, they tend to be extremely traditionalist in that respect.

[Dragon]

I don't think it was a flag of their unit. If it was, then there should be no problem at all, as long as it's older than SS itself (which is plausible). Something like the Canadian town of Swastika, which refused to change it's name because some loon in Germany decided to make swastika his symbol. On the other hand, they don't know where did they got this flag, so it's most likely just a random piece of cloth acquired by one of the Marines who thought something like "Hey, this looks cool, let's make this our flag". Considering that it was in Afghanistan, I think it's just a honest mistake, history isn't something you think about much when in a warzone (unless you're a history buff, that is).
Also, IIRC, "SS" was a German term, an acronym (well, sort of) for Schutzstaffel.

[Flipside]

Well, that was one of the excuses for using the flag, that they thought it meant 'Sniper Scouts', which I find to be a bit of a stretch It does make you wonder where the flag came from in the first place though (meaning that specific piece of cloth, not the history of the symbols).

[Mika]

That could be social commentary from Marines or from those they bought flag from. The most likely explanation is still ignorance.

Here is a snap of USAF pilots from 1970s:



Times have changed.

[Dragon]

That's indeed curious, I don't see any reason why a Marine would bring such thing on a mission. I don't think it's plausible to own something with this kind of symbol without somebody pointing it out, and a Marine would have to either be a real gomer* or an actual Nazi sympathizer to get it from some WWII-related place and not know what it is.
*Marine slang for an idiot.

[Nuke]

Here's what you get for sleeping through history lessons.
Also, those wacky Nazis ruined so many good symbols. To think Swastika was once a good luck symbol. And this was most likely an ordinary rune from some ancient rune alphabet, until somebody at SS noticed it'd make a good logo.

the nazis had a good graphics design team
i do notice a trend though, the more evil the state, the more badass their ****!

[Flipside]

It's because you can be a lot freer with the black, and symbols like lightning, wolves and skulls don't have to be considered for political correctness. They are effectively the teenagers who were allowed to paint their rooms any way they wanted

[NGTM-1R]

Besides, asking if you recognize the flag isn't any use, since that's closest to the SS collar emblem. The SS used the Nazi flag.

[Dragon]

The question might be better as "D you recognize this symbol.", as the whole discussion is about the symbol (blue and white are among the last colors Nazis would use). But that's a minor detail.

[jg18]

Besides, asking if you recognize the flag isn't any use, since that's closest to the SS collar emblem. The SS used the Nazi flag.

The question might be better as "D you recognize this symbol.", as the whole discussion is about the symbol (blue and white are among the last colors Nazis would use). But that's a minor detail.

Thread title and poll question adjusted accordingly. Let me know if that's better.

[Nemesis6]

Here's what you get for sleeping through history lessons.
Also, those wacky Nazis ruined so many good symbols. To think Swastika was once a good luck symbol. And this was most likely an ordinary rune from some ancient rune alphabet, until somebody at SS noticed it'd make a good logo.

the nazis had a good graphics design team

Pff, the Soviets were the masters of shooping. Case in point:





Oh what the hell, might as well put this out there. Here's the Soviet photoshop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2PsiJXswiM

[Grizzly]

I love how he resembles napoleon.

[Nuke]

thats pretty impressive

[Flipside]

Is it ironic that the original looks faker than the 'shop?

[watsisname]

I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.

[Mongoose]

I honestly wouldn't have recognized the symbol if I hadn't heard the news story about this yesterday.

[deathfun]

I knew what it was