- Lauburu
The lauburu or Basque cross has four comma-shaped heads similar to the Japanese
tomoe . It 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.Background
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 ; 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 ; The Basque intellectual Imanol Mujica liked to say that the heads signify spirit, life, consciousness, and form – but it is generally used as a symbol of prosperity.It was found in oldstela s.After the time of theAntonines ,M. Camille Julián M. Camille Julián in his preface to "La tombe basque", according to [http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/87432?idi=en&clave=87432&op=4&primR=21®s=10&EIKVOGEN=lauburu&pos=29&epi=64714#mrc1 Lauburu: La swástika rectilínea] (Auñamendi Entziklopedia).] finds no specimen of swastikas, round nor straight, in the Basque area until modern times.Paracelsus 's "Archidoxis Magicae " features a symbol [http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/38522?idi=en&op=15&primR=21®s=10&EIKVOGEN=lauburu&pos=29&] in the
Auñamendi Entziklopedia .] similar to the lauburu that is to be drawn to heal animals.M. Colas considers that the lauburu is not related to the swastika but comes from Paracelsus and marks the tombs of healers of animals and healers of souls, i.e., priests.Around the end of the 16th century, the round swastika appears abundantly as a Basque decorative element, in wooden chests or tombs, perhaps as another form of the cross. [http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/87432?idi=en&clave=87432&op=4&primR=21®s=10&EIKVOGEN=lauburu&pos=29&epi=64716#mrc3 Lauburu: Conclusiones] in Auñamendi Entziklopedia.] Straight swastikas are not found until the 19th century.Many Basque homes and shops display the symbol over the doorway as a sort of talisman. In modern times it has been associated with theswastika .Sabino Arana interpreted it as asolar symbol , supporting his theory of a Basquesolar cult based on wrong etymologies, in the first number of "Euzkadi ".The lauburu has been featured on flags and emblems of various Basque political organisations includingEusko Abertzale Ekintza .The symbol in its positive form (right-facing) can symbolise
life , and in its negative form (left-facing)death Fact|date=February 2007. This is the reason why many Basque tombstones display left-facing lauburus.It is also used as an alternative to theChristian cross in thedeath notice s ofBasque nationalist s.The use of the lauburu as a cultural icon fell into some disuse under the Spanish nationalist government of Franco, who repressed many elements of Basque culture. For that reason, there is some dispute as to which direction the lauburu faces represents creation (life and good fortune) or destruction (death and misfortune). Some say that what produces the distinctive round heads is the wake created by the rotation of the cross, representing the elements and universe of energy. When rotating clockwise, the wake trails in the opposite direction with the heads facing left, and vice versa.Etymology
"Lau buru" means "four heads", "four ends" or "four summits" in Basque.
So the real origin could be in Astur or Cantabrum. Some argue it could be a
folk etymology applied to the Latin "labarum ".However, FatherFidel Fita thought the relation reversed, "labarum" being adapted from Basque inOctavian Augustus ' timeLetter from Fita to Fernández Guerra, reproduced in his "Cantabria", note 8, page 126, reproduced in "Historia crítica de Vizcaya y de sus Fueros", byGregorio Balparda , according to [http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/87432?idi=en&clave=87432&op=4&primR=21®s=10&EIKVOGEN=lauburu&pos=29&epi=64714#mrc1 Auñamendi Entziklopedia] ]ee also
* Fan
*Lábaro
*Labarum
*Sauwastika
*Swastika
*Tomoe References
External links
* [http://www.swastika-info.com/en/startpage/all/1066313818.html The Baskian Swastika Lauburu, its symbolic meaning and history]
* [http://gofree.indigo.ie/~janoty/euskadi/croix.htm "La croix Basque, laubaru"] : demonstrating the layout for scribing the arms
*" [http://es.geocities.com/orgenomescos/articulos/labarolauburu.htm Lábaro y lauburu] ", Spanish-language page proposing that the Romanlabarum is ofCantabri origin. The Basque lauburu would be acultural appropiation of the Cantabrian symbol by erudites from the 16th and 17th centuries who tried to present modern Basques as descendants of the Cantabri. The symbolic meaning of both symbols would be very difficult to ascertain.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.