Shakira's website caught selling necklace with Nazi symbol to promote her 'El Dorado' world tour
Colombian musician Shakira is one of the greatest South American artists of all-time. Shakira has found herself in hot water after it was found that her official website was selling merchandise featuring fascist and Nazi symbols.
The news was first reported by German outlet Bento who pointed out the necklace's startling and uncanny resemblance to the 'Black Sun' symbol which was reverently used by the Nazis during their reign in the country in the late 1930s and '40s. It was on sale as a part of the singer's El Dorado tour which, ironically, kicked off in Cologne, Germany, this past November.
The small gold necklace reads 'Shakira El Dorado World Tour' and is surrounded by a sun pattern, which is the same as the 'Black Sun' or 'Schwarze Sonne' in German, and which is supposedly still in use by certain neo-Nazi occult circles. The ancient design is also found on a sun wheel mosaic incorporated into a floor of the Wewelsburg Castle in the country's Westphalia region. The castle was the ideological home of Heinrich Himmler and the Schutzstaffel (SS), the major paramilitary organization of the Nazi party.
The symbol was allegedly adopted by the Nazis because of the significance it holds as an 'old Aryan emblem' and was meant to mimic the roundtable of Arthurian legend which spoke of the sun wheel representing one knight or officer of the inner SS. The symbol was purported to unite the three most important symbols of Nazi ideology: the sun wheel, the swastika, and the stylized victory rune.
Although the symbol has found contemporary uses in many groups in Europe and around the world — Azov Battalion, the Ukrainian National Guard regiment based in the country's Mariupol region still continues to use it — it is still primarily associated with neo-Nazi and other modern far-right political groups who have adopted it in recent times.
Despite Shakira's website flaunting the necklace, it is likely that this was an oversight by a designer who did not take too much time to research the symbolism and it most likely was not an attempt by the singer to encourage neo-Nazi principles.
Furthermore, two days after the report surfaced, the necklace could not be found on the website. Instead, a pendant featuring a sunburst pattern with tiny ovals emanating from a circle was placed in its stead and was available for $9.95.
A smart decision since the symbols are still banned in Germany, with USA Today citing Bento and reporting that the 'Black Sun' is on the list of far-right symbols to watch out for in at least two states in the nation.
