Fascist symbol on Napoleon's loading screen

Haig

Haig

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Cheers, just noticed that on the top-left corner of Nappy's loading screen there is the fascist symbol of Musslolini's italian empire, an axe inside a bundle of wood.

Always thought it was "Original art by Benito Mussolini, don't steal" but is there something more behind it's history and how it relates to France or Napoleon?
 
You are partially right; that symbol is the Fascis. Which means bundle... It was from the Etruscan Civilization and passed to the Romans. Originally used to represent the magistrate or collective power, it has been used since them in many forms of government to represent collective power. The US House of Representatives has had this image behind the podium since the building was built. So too has the Roman Senate. The Italian Fascist movement took this as their symbol and the name of the symbol later was used to describe the Italian Fascist Party (Hence the name Fascis[t]). So to sum it up it was an Etruscan symbol borrowed by the Romans, the French and most other republics; then converted for use by the Italian Fascist Party... lol
 
I don't really know how it relates to France, but the symbol is called the "fasces", and goes all the way back to ancient Rome. It was only later adopted as a symbol by Mussolini. I suppose Napoleon's France could also have adopted it as a symbol of authority.
 
I guess I never pay attention to that kind of stuff. Maybe I should pay a little more attention.
 
On a related note the swastika has a history that goes Waaay back further than the Nazi party in Germany.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-26369329

Reading this you might think swastika use in design is something that arose almost totally from contact with India.

However I've read that you can find centuries old gravestones in Ireland with swastika designs - from a time when India was pretty obscure in that part of the world. Doing a casual google I also found articles about it's use in architecture dating back at least a thousand years, a lot in Russia actually.

Not one I find visually appealing on it's own merits, but if you ever see some reasonably old piece of stonework or building with one carved in it, don't think Nazi time travelers put it there.

Not a history expert, but since it was an Indoeuropean symbol, and most of us speak languages derived from Indoeuropean, well...

Just saying the world didn't just suddenly emerge in 1939 or something.
 
It's not from Mussolini, it's from the Roman Empire. You can see legates carrying them.

Same thing with the right-hand salute we associate with Nazism, it was just copied by them. It's the 'Roman salute.'
 
sunbeam said:
On a related note the swastika has a history that goes Waaay back further than the Nazi party in Germany.
Click to expand...

You can find Swastika's on every continent. The Aztec's (et al) used them as well.
 
Hi :)

This symbol is almost as old as the french republic. It was adopted in 1790.
It means that French republic is "one and indivisible". It's still in use today.
 
docbud said:
I guess I never pay attention to that kind of stuff. Maybe I should pay a little more attention.
Click to expand...

The game has a lot of little attention to detail that was present in past games (for the most part). In the past a lot of the easter eggs or interesting things were in the research tree quotes that you obtained upon learning a new tech.

Civ:BE has quite a lot of nifty tidbits as well but sadly none of them include a hidden, balanced version of the game :lol:
 
Matches the historical matters in Civ V. Maybe next time they put an Hindu swastika as a religious symbol.


- Hello, I'm a newbie and this is my first post.
 
Haig said:
Cheers, just noticed that on the top-left corner of Nappy's loading screen there is the fascist symbol of Musslolini's italian empire, an axe inside a bundle of wood.

Always thought it was "Original art by Benito Mussolini, don't steal" but is there something more behind it's history and how it relates to France or Napoleon?
Click to expand...

Fasces was first used by the Etruscans. Mussolini just borrowed it.
 
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