Symbolism, Banal Nationalism, and Asatru: Far-Right Heathen Heraldry as a Legitimizing Effort

Abstract

Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA) kindred banners, hof district banners, and crests/coats of arms strategically combine Germanic symbolism with medieval heraldic tradition and motifs to assert an ideological narrative that presents and claims: (1) cultural legitimacy; (2) historical continuity to European history and mythology; and (3) a distinct ethnic identity. This effort at visual piety is not mindless but deliberate collective memory construction imbued with political identity meaning(s). Heraldic symbolism in this case: (1) attempts to legitimize AFA mythic conceptualizations of ancestral bloodline and claims to an Aryan identity; (2) represents a form of banal nationalism; (3) signals white European identity to others; and (4) functions as a tool for collective organization and community building and formation.