When I designed the flag, the main problem was how to symbolize the flag of Israel/Zionism with the combination of the US and British flags. The blue star of David was the only symbol that seemed to make sense, even though I realized that it would be hard to avoid the conflation with Judaism in most people's minds.

I'm glad that it resulted in a fruitful discussion on this blog (and there aren't many other blogs which could have handled this topic in a mature and intelligent way as this one), with so many excellent observations and reflections on how we are programmed to react emotionally by symbols (as well as how people are intentionally manipulated as such by the use/misuse of symbols). It is pretty interesting to stand back and look at just how powerful flags and symbols can be in causing emotional reactions in people. That's why I really don't like flags in general - they seem to divide people and encourage irrational jingoistic ferver among groups.

So I guess I meant to provoke people, in a way, with this artwork. The reason I created this "Axis of Evil" flag was to cut right through the heart of the whole Orwellian brainwashing, a kind of in-your-face reality check, taking symbols and language that have been used to deceive the masses by the fascist pathocracies (rule by pathological people - i.e. manipulative psychopaths, see "Political Ponerology") and turning them back on the pathocrats in a combination that speaks the truth, rather than the lie.

That brings up the subject of the origin of symbols and how the ancient meanings of certain symbols can be totally transmuted, in a negative or positive directon. Ironically, the ancient origins of both the Swastika and the Star of David are, in fact, related (though not for the meanings most people today are familiar with), and the original meanings, which have been totally eclipsed by the current emotionally charged ones, pre-date the contemporary uses/understandings of each symbol by thousands of years.

The history of the Swastika spans more than 3000 years. The origin of the Swastika according to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

" The swastika (from Sanskrit svástika स� वास� तिक ) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either left-facing or right-facing forms. The term is derived from Sanskrit svasti, meaning well-being. The Thai greeting sawasdee is from the same root, carrying the same implication.

It is a widely-used sacred symbol in Dharmic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism). Hindus often decorate the swastika with a dot in each quadrant. In India, it is common enough to be a part of several Devanagari fonts. It is also a symbol in the modern unicode. It is often imprinted on religious texts, marriage invitations, decorations etc. It is used to mark religious flags in Jainism and to mark Buddhist temples in Asia.

Archaeological evidence of swastika shaped ornaments goes back to the Neolithic. In 1920 the swastika was adopted as a Nazi symbol, and has since then become a controversial motif as a consequence. In the Western world, it is this usage as a symbol of Nazism that is most familiar, and this political association has partly eclipsed its historical status in the West.

[...]

The swastika has an extensive history. The motif seems to have first been used in Neolithic Eurasia.

[...]

The symbol has an ancient history in Europe, appearing on artifacts from pre-Christian European cultures. It was also adopted independently by several Native American cultures.
Greek helmet with swastika marks on the top part (details), 350-325 BCE from Taranto, found at Herculanum. Cabinet des Médailles, Paris.
Greek helmet with swastika marks on the top part (details), 350-325 BCE from Taranto, found at Herculanum. Cabinet des Médailles, Paris.

In the Western world, the symbol experienced a resurgence following the archaeological work in the late nineteenth century of Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the symbol in the site of ancient Troy and associated it with the ancient migrations of Proto-Indo-Europeans. He connected it with similar shapes found on ancient pots in Germany, and theorized that the swastika was a "significant religious symbol of our remote ancestors," linking Germanic, Greek and Indo-Iranian cultures.[1][2] By the early 20th century it was widely used worldwide and was regarded as a symbol of good luck and success.

The work of Schliemann soon became intertwined with the völkisch movements, for which the swastika was a symbol of "Aryan" identity, a concept that came to be equated by theorists like Alfred Rosenberg with a Nordic master race originating in northern Europe. Since its adoption by the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler, the swastika has been associated with fascism, racism (white supremacy), World War II, and the Holocaust in much of the West. The swastika remains a core symbol of Neo-Nazi groups, and is also regularly used by activist groups to signify the supposed Nazi-like behavior of organizations and individuals they oppose."

Interestingly, the six-pointed star made of two interlacing equilateral triangles, which most people today see as the Star of David, also has more ancient origins from the same Aryan and Hindu traditions as the Swastika. This six pointed star is a very common image in Hinduism as the central image within the lotus of the heart chakra: ANAHATA: LOTUS OF THE HEART

http://www.gaiamind.com/starbird.html

The Archetypal Mandala of the Star of David

by Margaret Starbird

" The mandala of the hexagram, also known as the "Star of David" is much older than Judaism, older even than history! As an archetypal symbol for the sacred union of the opposite energies, it is the "yin-yang" of western civilization. Formed by the intertwining of the "fire" and "water" triangles (the male "blade" and the female "chalice") this symbiol represents the masculine and feminine principles in perfect union, the "sacred marriage" or "hieros gamous" of the ancient world. In India the symbol represents the "cosmic dance" of Shiva and Shakti, and the Jewish Kaballah suggests that the Ark of the Covenant contains, in addition to the tables of the Ten Commandments, "a regular hexagram representing a man and woman in intimate embrace,"

Since "Sacred Union" is the source of all life on this planet, the six-pointed star uniting the archetypal male and female triangles has long been acknowledged as the model for balance and wholeness. Medieval Alchemists called the Star the "Philosopher's stone," adding a tiny dot on the upper right hand point to represent the presence of God and guidance of the Divine Spirit. In 1986 during a period of intense revelation and enlightenment, I was given the symbol of the six-pointed star with a dove brooding over it, wings outstretched, as a powerful sign for the New Age dawning. The star represented the entire living cosmos--"male and female," "heaven and earth," "spirit and matter," "light and dark" and all living things--under the Dove of Peace, "with healing in her wings." For years, I couldn't really talk about this image, but finally wrote about the meaning of the Star in the final chapter of my book, THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER JAR, (Bear and Co, 1993). The Star of David appears on every page of that book as its guiding mandala, and the contents have been described by some readers as the "missing link" between Christianity and Juadism. That missing link is the "sacred marriage."
"
Ananda marga use of the symbol
http://www.gaiamind.com/starmarga.html

" Six-pointed star in the ideological symbol of Ananda Marga
The ideology of Ananda Marga, an organization founded by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (1921-1990), is based on the tradition of Tantra where the triangles and other symbols play an important role, and it is not at all surprising that the six-pointed star can also be found in the ideological symbol of AM.

The six pointed star is composed of two equilateral triangles. The triangle pointing up represents action of the outward flow of energy through selfless service to humanity. The triangle pointing downward represents knowledge or the inward search of our sádhaná. (from: A.M. Spiritual and Social Practices, ed. Tarak)

So the star also represents an old Tantric aphorism by Shiva, who was the first to give form to Tantra some 7500 years ago:

So Shiva has said, people should follow dharma � tmamoks'artham' jagathitáya ca - "For self-realization and for the welfare of the universe". (from Namah Shiváya Shántáya by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti)

Finding the dynamic balance between the inner and the outer seems to be one of the great tasks of our lives. And when the balance is found, the star is also perfect."

So, it looks like both of these ancient symbols have been co-opted and transmuted into what people are familiar with today, though not necessarily for the better.

Regarding the origin of the Swastika, there is an insidious line of thought currenty running amok through the right wing/Christian/Libertarian/anti-environmental types here in Amerika that attempts to link the origin of the modern environmental/Gaia/deep ecology movement to Nazism and fascism by deceptively making reference to the ancient links of the Swastika to the Indo/Aryans/Hindus, combined with the fact that many of the modern environmentalists/Gais-ists get inspiration from Hindu spirituality, and the fact that there was an element of environmentalism within the German Nazi movement ("Green Fascism"). These right wing propagandists, by the use of clever logical fallacies, are attempting to prove that today's modern environmentalists are secretely motivated by Nazism and are just using environmentalism as a tool to justify their secret plan to kill off 90% of the human race (when in reality it is the right wing who is planning such a calamity). To me, this looks like a perfect PsyOp program to scare-monger the more gullible part of the population who are already looking for excuses to not have to be responsible for their behavior, into rejecting environmental protection so that greedy corporations and sociopathic individuals can continue plundering and destroying the environment for profit unimpeeded by the petty little concerns of normal people who just happen to feel they have a right to a healthy, functioning eco-system for themselves and future generations.

The irony of the universe never ceases to amaze me.

Anyway, I am open so suggestions in how I might improve the flag by avoiding the button pushing over the Jewish conflation issue. Does anybody have any ideas on how to include a recognizeable symbol of the Israeli flag without using the Star of David?