Ethiopian Foreign Policy

Why are there Swastika symbols on Lalibela churches in Ethiopia?

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The Swastika and the Suavastika Crosses Alternative names:

Bent Cross
Buddhist Cross
Crooked Cross
Cross Gurgity
Crux Gammata
Fylfot
Gamma Cross
Gammadion Cross
German Cross
Hakaristi
Hakenkreuz
Hakenkruis
Hooked Cross
Khas
Manji
Nazi Cross
Pērkonkrusts
Rotating Cross
Spinning Cross
Suavastika
Swastika
Tetraskelion
Wheel of the Dharma.

Swastika
Swastika

The Suavastika
Suavastika

This is a religious symbol, also used in a secular context.

Being a cross, one of the religions using this symbol was Christianity in the Middle Ages and referred to as a Gammadion, a group of four Greek letter gamma (Γ), the capitalised third letter of the Greek alphabet. Three in a Christian context is a reminder of the Trinity, and each gamma represents one of the four Evangelists, who radiate from the central Greek Cross1, which represents Christ.

Today it is perhaps best recognised as the 1930’s emblem of Adolf Hitler’s extreme-right Nationalsozialistische deutsche Arbeiter-Partei2, commonly known as Nazi. During the Second World War the Swastika was often derisively called the Bent Cross or Crooked Cross3; a slur intended to show that Hitler, an outlaw, was using a Christian cross in a malevolent, non-Christian manner.4
Orientation
http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/crosses/swastika.html

The symbol arrived from Greece via Egypt to Ethiopia. The Greeks themselves inherited the symbol from Armenia. In Armenia it was the ancient symbol of eternity and eternal light (i.e. God). Thus the Agews placed it on the window meaning they had eternal communication or link to God as the window represents “open”.

It’s the right angles of a square meaning truth, rightousness and jestice and they’re equal to 4 90°’s, and when added up they will equal to a full circle 360°’s