http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/8...esvgbk7.th.pngThe symbol of fascism, in its original Italian incarnation under Benito Mussolini, and which gave fascism its name, was the fasces.
This is an ancient Roman symbol of power carried by lictors in front of magistrates: a bundle of sticks, which included an axe indicating the power over life and death.
Until the adaptation of the fasces by the Italian fascists it had in modern times been a symbol used by Italian left-wing groups called Fascio as a symbol of strength through unity.
However, the adoption of the fasces by the Italian fascists has not completely tainted the symbol by association and the symbol appears on, among other things, the seal of the United States Senate[1], the coat of arms of France[2], the wall of the debating chamber of the United States House of Representatives and the coat of arms of the Swiss Canton of St.Gallen[3].
image 1
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image 2
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image 3
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