Swastika in Cowboy Saddles -...

C owboy is a sy nony m giv en to an animal herder who herds cattle’s on plainor hilly areas. Deriv ed by combining the two English words, cowboy is said tobe deriv ed from the Spanish word ‘v aquero’, meaning ‘boy who herd cattle’s’.Traditionally riding on a horse back herding cattle’s or liv estock, cowboy s alsoperform a multitude of other tasks like cooking, agriculture, animal husbandryetc. C owgirls are the girls or a woman who does the work of herdingcattle’s or other lives tock. Since women faced difficulty inc limbing onto the horse, they used saddle as a tool for ridinghorses in respec table public places ins tead of travelling on footor horses driven carriages . This encouraged young cowgirls toexpand their roles beyond doing bas ic household duties .

Swastika in Cowboy Saddles Saddle is a supportive material attached to an animal back usedto support the rider from s lipping through while riding the horse. Such saddles can be seen in traditional English movies where abeautiful cowgirl wearing jeans, boots, chaps, gloves and rounded hats performs theherding chores similar to cowboys. Saddles bag are the bags that can be mounted onthe saddle to carry sundry items like water, food, blanket etc. Below is one of suchantique Saddle bags with sacred swastika symbol from the southwest USA

This artic le is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .com

Cowboy saddle with inscripted swastikas

Swastika in Cowboy Spurs Spurs are the metallic or leather device attached to the heel ofthe boot or sandal, featuring a small metal shank usuallyattached to the wheel for movement. They are usually worn inpair for direc ting the horse to move forward or lateral whileriding.


Left is the spur with swastika made in Texas prison while on the right side, youcan see a spur attached to a wheel.

Some creative cowboys also added a small metal locally known as ‘Pajados’ or JingoBobs to create a jingling bell like sound whenever their foot moved. This was oftenused by crooks or thief to sign their arrival in the village or a particular area.


One of such spur with swastika symbol producing a jingling sound

Swastika in Cowboy Watch fobs Watch fobs are attached on watch chains . Watch fobs were verypopular among the cowboys in the early V ic toria era. A watch fobis not necessarily attached to a watch chain and can be anysmall decorative item that fits ins ide a wais t pocket.


Antique watch fob with swastika good luck sign

Watch fob are usually metallic with decorative elaboratedes igns . Many antique watch fobs made of 24 carat gold can befound in eBay and other auc tion s ites . Watch fob made up ofbronze, s ilver, gold and brass with decorative des igns inc ludinggood luck symbol swas tika were quite popular among the cowboyculture


Bronze watch fobs made in the early 1920’s

Swastika in Cowboy belt buckles O rnamental and beautifully des igned s tylish buckles were one ofthe major attrac tions of the cowboy. I t is said that thepersonality of the cowboy is determined by his belt and buckle.Stylish Belt buckles of cowboys were often used by Hollywoodac tors not only in their movies but also in their daily lifes tyle.


Antique Belt Buckles with Swastika good luck Symbol

Buckles were made of steel, brass, silver, gold, bronze, leather etc. As the popularity ofcowboy style grew, belt buckles became a fashion trend and today, every gentlemanwear belt with stylish ornamental buckles. Belt buckles are adorned with flags, patrioticsymbol, birds, auspicious symbol like swastika, cowboy hats etc.


1920’s American made decorative Good Luck Buckle with swastika symbol

Swastika in Cowboy belts Buckles cannot be popular without belts . C owboys used s trongleather belts with a heavy buckle as a s trategic weapon to beatup local goons or thieves . Belt used by cowboys were made up ofrigid leather beautifully des igned with auspic ious symbol likeswastika, flags , eagles etc . A c tually belt sets were very popularthose days which cons is ted of many leather belts and colorfulbuckles that can be attached to the belt. Belt and buckle waschosen from this set depending upon the color of thec lothes/apparels or cos tume worn on the body.


Belts from the early 1930’s made in Texas

Swastika in Cowboy Bracelets Bracelet made of bronze, brass , copper or s ilver was the trendamong teenage cowgirls and cowboys . Bracelets wereembossed with colorful des igns and symbols like swas tika,national flag, community flags etc . Bracelets were embeddedwith corals , gemstones , beads , s ilver and other minerals indecorative leaf patterns to make it more attrac tive andappealing to young generations .


Bracelets with swastika symbol

Swastika in Cowboy rings Swastika embossed Engagement and weddings rings were quitepopular among the cowboys s ince it meant good luck for theirfuture. Rings s tudded with gemstones such as rubies ,sapphires , emeralds and prec ious metals like diamonds , gold,s ilver, platinum etc were widely exchanged between cowboysand cowgirls as a token of friendship, engagement or wedding.


One of the swastika cowboy rings for sale on eBay

Swastika in Cowboy pendants and necklaces In olden days, cowboys would gift expensive jewelry like pendants and necklace to theirbride on engagements and weddings. They often gifted a jewelry set consisting of ring,pendant, bracelet, necklace, nose rings, earrings and anklets. Items of this jewelry setwere studded with precious stones and metals like gold, silver and diamond. Below aretwo of such swastika necklaces


Cowgirls swastika Necklace

Swastika pendants were also sold separately. When swastika became associated withGerman Nazi party, such swastika pendants were treated as a bad luck symbol and weredestroyed or melted to create a new one. As a result, such American cowboy Jewelry &pendants are very rare and are sold at a huge price on eBay and other auction sites.Below is one of such cowgirl pendantTop of Form


Cowgirls swastika Pendant

Swastika in Cowboy gun Holster

Hols ter is case of leather or s imilar material to keep pis tol, gunsor other weaponry items. I t is usually des igned in such a waythat it gets attached to a belt, s trap, or saddle eas ily forcomfortable portability and transportation. There are manyHollywood moves depic ting heroic and brave cowboys riding ahorse and carrying gun or pis tol in their hols ter attached tosaddle. C lint Eas twood and John Wayne are couple of suchHollywood ac tors and ‘Great T rain Robbery' is one of suchc lass ic movies . Lates t one on the lis t is ‘C owboy and A liens ’where our James bond is depic ted as a cowboy fighting agains taliens . C owboy hols ter were very attrac tive, elegant, durable andcomfortable and the popular one inc luded belt hols ter, pockethols ter, wais tband hols ters , shoulder hols ters , and anklehols ters . The most common hols ters are worn attached to a


person's belt.


A merican cowboy hols ter with a swas tika button

Swastika in Cowboy Tapadero Tapadero is a Mexican word which means a leather hoodcovering a s tirrup of a saddle. I t was used to protec t the bootfrom s lipping or to prevent brush encountered while workingcattle on the open range from poking through the s tirrup, injuringor impeding the horse or rider. I t is also used as a safetyprecautionary hood for young riders and learners .

Very rare vintage swastika Mexican cowboy Tapaderos

Conclusion This artic le is intended to rec laim the los t s ignificance andimportance of humanity earlies t symbol ‘Swas tika’. Swastika isderived from the Sanskrit word “svas tika”- "su" meaning "good,"


"as ti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. Swastika s ignifiesthe symbol of good luck, prosperity, peace and fortune. A fter itsassoc iation with German Nazi party, this anc ient symbol hasfaced a sad trans ition from a good luck symbol to symbol of eviland advers ity. Swastika is s till widely used as a good lucksymbol in A s ian countries like India, C hina, Japan, Korea,Thailand, V ietnam, Indones ia etc . This symbol has a greatspiritual meaning and s ignificance in H induism and its derivedreligions like Buddhism and Jainism.


Swastika in Cowboy Saddles -...

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