Windsor Swastikas with coaches Light Outfits 1912

The Windsor Swastikas were a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, from 1905–1916. Not to be confused with the Fernie Swastikas across the country in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, the “Swastikas” was chosen by them as

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

is also a symbol of luck and success.

Team logo

The Windsor Swastikas used the ancient

symbol as their logo. The swastika is an

equilateral In geometry, an equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides have the same length. In the familiar Euclidean geometry, an equilateral triangle is also equiangular; that is, all three internal angles are also congruent to each othe ...

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

with its arms bent at

right angles In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 degrees or radians corresponding to a quarter turn. If a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles. T ...

, in either right-facing () form or its mirrored left-facing () form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

period and the design is still widely used in many religions around the world. Though once commonly used all over much of the world without stigma, because of its iconic usage in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

the symbol has become stigmatized in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, even

outlawed An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

in Germany.

History

Credited as the birthplace of hockey,

has a long history of the sport.- Total pages: 239 As such it was natural that the small town would have a touring team. When selecting logos for their hockey team they chose a symbol that at the time was associated with power and good fortune, much like the four leafed clover. The team formed in 1905 and toured the East coast of Canada travelling as far as

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

to play other professional teams. At first they played in and won the Western Nova Scotia Amateur Hockey League championship. They also defeated other teams to win the famous Halifax Herald and Mail Trophy. The team moved by train from town to town as was common in the era. For home games they played at the

Stannus Street Rink The Stannus Street Rink, also known as the ''Windsor Rink'', located at 321 Stannus Street at Thomas Street in Windsor, Nova Scotia is a former ice hockey arena, considered the oldest in Canada, having been built in 1897. History The building wa ...

, the oldest rink in Canada. The team disbanded during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

when many players, like Blaine Sexton, joined the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

that fought on the Western Front.

Notable players

* Blaine Sexton (May 3, 1892 – April 27, 1966) – Was a former Swastika player who went on to become a player on the British ice hockey team that got a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 ( frp, Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France ...

. *Walter Regan – Coach of Swastikas. His son,

Gerald Regan Gerald Augustine Paul Regan (February 13, 1928 – November 26, 2019) was a Canadian politician (as federal MP and later as Nova Scotia MLA), who served as the 19th premier of Nova Scotia from 1970 to 1978. Early life and education Regan was ...

, later became

Premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of ...

. *Lew Shaw – Inductee of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame for hockey. *Charles "Charlie" Patterson – an accomplished rowing and speed skating champion from Dartmouth and inductee of the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame along with his brother Sandy.

Team logo

History

Notable players

See also

References

Further reading