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 AegisGrimm wrote:
Heh, just like the real Swastika, take a symbol that means "luck", have a bunch of morons misuse it, and there you go.

Fun fact, in the early days of the 20th century, tons of American paraphernalia had the swastika plastered all over them because it meant luck and good fortune, like sweaters, sports jerseys, all sorts of things.

Apparently they also used to do the Nazi salute during the pledge of allegiance but it was changed to a hand on the heart after the rise of the Nazis, for obvious reasons.


Anyway, Horus' symbol could be used? It's pretty good looking, and would be very taboo in the Imperium. Any of the traitor legions would also have a similar effect. Very taboo, but by this time 10,000 years on most of the Imperium will have forgotten these symbols.

Just my thoughts, hope you find something cool for your army.

 Lion of Caliban wrote:

 AegisGrimm wrote:
Heh, just like the real Swastika, take a symbol that means "luck", have a bunch of morons misuse it, and there you go.

Fun fact, in the early days of the 20th century, tons of American paraphernalia had the swastika plastered all over them because it meant luck and good fortune, like sweaters, sports jerseys, all sorts of things.

Apparently they also used to do the Nazi salute during the pledge of allegiance but it was changed to a hand on the heart after the rise of the Nazis, for obvious reasons.

It was called the Bellamy Salute, and was essentially the Roman Salute believed to have been used in the Roman Empire. But yeah, once the Nazis used it, it suddenly fell out of fashion. But anyways.

I'm not sure a bunch of degenerate criminals, from some back water planet, would be bright enough to understand historical symbols that go against the Imperium as a whole, let alone how much of the Imperium even functions, or their place in it, really. More likely they'd use a symbol from their homeworld that means something to them (a gang, cult, defeated political group) on a more local level - and would be unrecognizable as anything of import to anyone from another world (or even continent on their own world).

So really you can pick or make any symbol you like, and call it that, and there you go.

Why not just take the Aquila and flip it upside down? That's a basic and subtle form of defilement, and its a common symbol throughout the imperium.
Like how an inverted cross is associated with the Devil.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Why not just take the Aquila and flip it upside down? That's a basic and subtle form of defilement, and its a common symbol throughout the imperium.
Like how an inverted cross is associated with the Devil.

Ironically, the inverted cross is also the Cross of St. Peter and another symbol of the pope, as it pertains to the story that St. Peter requested his crucifixion to be upside down so he would not be considered the equal of Christ.

 amanita wrote:

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Why not just take the Aquila and flip it upside down? That's a basic and subtle form of defilement, and its a common symbol throughout the imperium.
Like how an inverted cross is associated with the Devil.

Ironically, the inverted cross is also the Cross of St. Peter and another symbol of the pope, as it pertains to the story that St. Peter requested his crucifixion to be upside down so he would not be considered the equal of Christ.

Indeed. Which does lead to people confusing the two.
From what I've seen though, the two meanings are unrelated. The satanic meaning of the inverted cross is a hollywood contrivance / pop culture, iirc, and they aren't known to do research.

My understanding is that the satanic symbol is the inverted crucifix - i.e. the image of Jesus on the cross, not just the cross itself.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
My understanding is that the satanic symbol is the inverted crucifix - i.e. the image of Jesus on the cross, not just the cross itself.

You also see it for the cross as well, not just the crucifix.








Anyway, I think an inverted Aquila would make the most sense, its extremely unlikely that your average imperial conscript, especially from the lower classes, would know what a xenos, heretical, or pre-Horus heresy symbol is.
It's also a real life parallel, which is always a good idea to make when world building.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Anyway, I think an inverted Aquila would make the most sense, its extremely unlikely that your average imperial conscript, especially from the lower classes, would know what a xenos, heretical, or pre-Horus heresy symbol is.
It's also a real life parallel, which is always a good idea to make when world building.

While I agree that an inverted Aquila is a pretty good idea for a subversive symbole. I would also add an Aquila where none of the eagle head is blindfolded to the list (even if its not really possible to paint it on a figurine).

On a side note, I do think that the average Imperial conscript has probably seen or heard of symbols of Chaos as their cults are widesprayed in lower hives. People live in fear of damnation and since a lot of the population is illiterate, the use of symbols and pictograms to retell the basis of the Imperial Creed and the Horus Heresy is probably common. Thus the symbols used by the Ecclesiarchy to represent Chaos and the ennemies of the Emperor are probably very well known and could be used by traitors, cultists and who knows...edgy teenagers.

I don't know about that.
I was under the impression that the Imperial Government deliberately kept chaos and its symbols hidden from the populace, as to lessen the chances of them forming a cult.

You can't make a cult if you don't even know of the gods you're going to worship or their iconography.
Ironically, that can also make them easier to corrupt, as the poor peasant wouldn't know what he's dealing with.
Which was the point, as it shows how utterly screwed up the whole chaos situation is.
If you tell people what chaos is, they might get into it. But if you don't, they might end up unwittingly serving the dark gods. Its messed up and pretty grimdark.