Lauburu

From Freepedia

The lauburu or Basque cross has four comma-shaped heads similar to the Japanese tomoe. The entire shape can be constructed with a compass and straightedge, beginning with the formation of a square template; each head can be drawn from a neighboring vertex of this template with two compass settings, with one radius half the length of the other. (illustration, right).

Historians and authorities compete to apply allegorical meaning to the ancient symbol–some say it signifies the "four heads or regions" of the Basque Country [1]; the lauburu does not appear in any of the seven coats-of-arms that have been combined in the arms of the Basque Country: Higher and Lower Navarre, Guipuzcoa, Biscay, Alava, Labourd, Soule [2]; The Basque intellectual Imanol Mujica liked to say that the heads signify spirit, life, consciousness, and form [3] – but it is generally used as a symbol of prosperity. It was found in old stelas and wooden chests, and has been recovered as a specifically Basque symbol. Many Basque homes and shops display the symbol over the doorway as a sort of talisman. In modern times it has been associated with the swastika.

The symbol in its positive form (right-facing) can symbolise life, and in its negative form (left-facing) death. This is the reason why many Basque tombstones display left-facing lauburus.