It was out of place for a few reasons. 1.) Obviously, the swastika is now (and perhaps forever) associated with reviled Nazism. 2.) Ironically, its origins are rooted in Jainism, which emphasizes equality and protection of all life—even bugs. 3.) There’s no swastika key on anybody’s Roman-lettered keyboard, unless specially made for skinheads.

The hopes among the few bloggers able to get a screen cap of the Google phenomenon were that the symbol sneaked its way into the trends list via some kind of Asian lettering crossover—the symbol is still used in India-originating religions and as characters in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Hot Trends showed it on a few blogs, but not anywhere in the news.

It’s also not on the final list for yesterday’s biggest gainers.

Google came through with an explanation, but didn’t identify the source. (Amazing how quickly big companies respond when it involves Nazi associations!) A spokesperson said the HTML for the swastika query was posted on a popular online bulletin board, causing a spike in searches, and thus an appearance on the Hot Trends list.  

Maybe next time somebody will try a smiley or a peace sign. I sense a new trend in the offing. . .