Regina family wants to educate others about the original meaning of the swastika

Regina family shares meaning of religious symbol WATCH: A Regina family is trying to further educate the community after police were called about a religious symbol.

REGINA — A Regina family wants to help educate others about the original meaning of a well-known religious symbol, after police were called to their home.

A swastika sticker is proudly displayed on the front porch of the Soni family’s home for the past three years. The swastika symbol is used in many religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

"It’s a very auspicious symbol, we use it for any occasion like Puja, we always start with the swastika to bring good fortune for prosperity and peace,” Yashaswi Soni said.

For Soni's family, it’s used to welcome and spread good wishes to all those who visit their home.

On Monday, the police showed up to ask some questions about it.

"They were like, ‘we just wanted to know what symbols are there on your doorsteps’, and I was like, ‘it's just a swastika’ and they were like ‘somebody complained about it, and they felt unsafe and they felt some hatred (was being) spread that sort of thing’.” Yashaswi said. “I was like okay, no we are Indians and we are Hindu, this is our very auspicious symbol."

Soni said the officers suggested she put something above the symbol to explain its meaning to those passing by.

"I was like ‘why should I put something on top of my holy symbol?’ If somebody wants to misjudge they will still do it by just looking at the symbol. They will not come to read what I've written on top. So first, I got very upset, but then I thought it's my responsibility and my duty to my community to let people know,” she said.

Yashaswi decided to write a post explaining the meaning of the swastika on a community Facebook page.

“Looking at the responses from the community members, I think we were astonished, we were super excited. It wasn't just the Indian community that were speaking positively about what she was sharing but it was people from all walks of life,” Janak Soni, Yashaswi's husband said.

The Soni's hope speaking out can help keep similar misunderstandings from happening in the future.