In her 1914 engagement photo, Harriett Lonsdale wore a long white dress, ribbons — and a swastika

FOR decades, Harriett Lonsdale’s family wondered about the unusual accessory in the Mulwala woman’s 1914 engagement photo — a swastika brooch.

Harriett Lonsdale wore a swastika brooch in her 1914 engagement photo.

WHEN Harriett Lonsdale posed for this formal photo to celebrate her engagement in 1914, she frocked up in a long white dress, ribbons in her hair — and a swastika.

The curious adornment chosen by the well-to-do Mulwala woman has long mystified her family.

The photo was taken the year World War I erupted, and six years before Adolf Hitler adopted the symbol that would later become synonymous with the Nazis’ atrocities.

The brooch in question.

Harriett Lonsdale wore a swastika brooch in her 1914 engagement photo.

“I always wondered why she was wearing a swastika brooch,” says her daughter, Audrey Piggott, from Glen Waverley.

“I didn’t know until I read in the Herald Sun (in June) that the swastika was for good luck. That was good to know!”

Both left-facing and right-facing swastikas were in widespread popular use as a symbol of good luck in the early 1900s — incorporated in everything from buildings to biscuits to bridal gowns and even giving rise to the Swastika Orchestra in Echuca of the 1930s.

The swastika dates back thousands of years across several countries and cultures, and, as well as good luck, the symbol has also been used to symbolise peace, wellbeing and prosperity.

Meanwhile, we’ve learned more about the 1930s wedding dress featuring a swastika pictured in a previous story.

Close-up of reverse swastika in Jean Sully’s bridal veil in the 1930s

Jean Sully’s 1930s bridal outfit featured an embroidered reverse swastika in the veil.

Jo tells us the bride (above) was her aunt, Jean Sully.

“The swastika was actually hand-embroidered on her veil by some Catholic nuns,” Jo says.

“For many years, my aunt would not show anyone her wedding photo because she was ashamed of the swastika, not knowing that it really was an ancient symbol of peace for the Buddhists and other religious groups in India.”

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