The Jera rune is an ancient European runic symbol, part of the runic alphabet. It also symbolizes concepts such as the harvest or the passage of time.
German ultranationalists of the pre-Nazi period began appropriating various runic symbols to help them create a link to a mythic “Aryan” past; from the 1920s through the 1940s, the Nazi party took such runic appropriation to a new level, incorporating many runic designs into Nazi iconography and symbology. Because the Nazis had done so, later neo-Nazi groups continued the tradition, adopting various runic symbols as logos, including symbols the Nazis themselves did not use.
The Jera rune is one of the less common runic symbols appropriated by modern white supremacists, perhaps because the Nazis do not appear to have used it. In the 2010s, however, white supremacists in Europe and the United States began to use the symbol. In Sweden, for example, the National Youth League (Förbundet Nationell Ungdom), a neo-Nazi group, adopted the Jera rune as its logo. In the United States, the rune began to appear on flyers and cards associated with the alt right segment of the white supremacist movement.
Some white supremacists may use the symbol because its design can conjure the image of a swastika without the symbol actually being a swastika.
Because the Jera rune is used by non-racists as well, including by adherents of modern pagan religions such as Asatru, one should not assume use of the symbol is racist but instead should only judge the symbol carefully in its specific context.
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