What do you think of when you see a swastika? If you’re like the majority of people in the world today, it does not give you a particularly warm and fuzzy feeling.

However, the swastika has been around for over 3,000 years and in the past commonly symbolized goodness and luck, up until its use by the Nazis in Germany. The now reviled image was used by cultures all over the world, including early Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and even Native Americans.

In more recent history, the swastika was still prominent just before the rise of the Nazi party. A few American uniforms featured the symbol in World War I, Coca Cola used it in advertising and, sports teams even took its name. The Nazis deeply complicated the swastika’s long existence as a symbol for good, and looking back upon its thousands of years of prominence in cultural history can yield some results that appear incredibly strange with contemporary eyes.

To salvage the image, it has been proposed that the clockwise version of the swastika should represent evil while counterclockwise would represent goodness.

Either way, it’s an intriguing example of how perception matters. How we view the world isn’t necessarily how others view it.

Acknowledging that fact is the first step towards having a more global mindset that will serve us well in the world of today.