In regard to swastikas being used in instances other than Nazi and
neo-Nazi contexts, our downtown post-office in Reno, which I believe was
built in 1937, has small swastikas as decorative elements on some of the
interior trim. Some of them have the arms bent counter-clockwise while
some are bent clockwise like the Nazi versions though all rest flat
unlike the Nazi-type, in which the central arms form an 'X'. This
building is a well-preserved example of Deco-influenced Federal
architecture, suggesting that in the pre-WWII period, swastikas were a
basic element of American design repertoire.
Larry Buhr
University of Nevada, Reno