Got asked about the Imperial symbol and Buddhism. It's a topic most of you know chapter and verse, but some might find it interesting:

The origins of the Imperial symbol may be rooted not in the mysterious temples of Yavin 4 or the ancient catacombs of Geonosis, but in one of the oldest religions of our world. The eight-spoked Dharmachakra could be the inspiration of the symbol of the Galactic Republic.

The Dharmachakra is an old Hindu symbol that basically represents the cycle of life. (Fan's of Robert Jordan will know this as the inspiration for the Wheel of Time). The symbol was, in a sense, inherited by Buddhism and is often associated primarily with that religion. The Dharamchakra has eight spokes, each representing one of the parts of the Eightfold Path, and is often referred to as the Dharma Wheel. It is said that when the Buddha first preached his insight to his friends in the Deer Park he set the Dharma turning. It continues to roll along to this day. (BTW, Dharma can mean the Buddha's teachings and it can also mean Truth...most recently it has come to signify a female character in painful contrived American sitcom).

The symbol of the Galactic Republic, like the Dharmachakra, has eight spokes. Also, like the Dharmachakra, it was borrowed from a pre-existing community--namely the Jedi Bendu monks. Jedi Bendu was the term for the Force-wielding monk-warriors in the earliest drafts of Star Wars. Shortly thereafter, Lucas switched to just Jedi, but apparently the Bendu still made their way into the official Star Wars history as precursors to the Jedi. The Bendu played a role in unifying the galaxy under one government and so their symbol was used as the emblem of the Republic.

The symbol relates to Bendu numerology, which touted the number nine as the hallmark of unity. The eight spokes joined to one disc (8+1=9) then represent the Force in a united galaxy.

Years later, Palpatine rose to power and being the dear admirer of both the Republic and the Jedi that he was, he decided to "retire" their symbol as it were. The new Imperial symbol bristles with not eight, but six spokes. Why exactly he removed two, I don't know (do you?), but it was a clear defacement of the revered emblem that had stood for a thousand generations.

Palpatine's corruption of the Bendu symbol calls to mind another defiled ancient symbol--the Hindu swastika. As it did with the Dharmachakra, Buddhism borrowed the swastika from Hinduism as a symbol of well-being and balance (which are pretty much synonymous). And just like with what happened to the Bendu symbol, the swastika was appropriated and twisted by a reprobate of galactic proportions. Hitler saw in the swastika a link to the ancient Aryans who once ruled northern India. The Aryans were to his deluded mind the master race. He flipped the usually left-facing swastika to peer right and gave it a slight tilt (effectively ruining its balanced state--how appropriate).