Bendu (religion)



Bendu was a collection of non-confrontational beliefs practiced by the Bendu monks. The symbol of Bendu was a circle connected by eight even spokes, which represented the unification of the galaxy by the Force. Due to their study of numerology, the number eight created by this symbol had great meaning.

Early in its formation, the Galactic Republic had its own symbol, but sometime after the Sith Civil War, they adapted the symbol to represent their own role in galactic unification.

The Bendu-inspired symbol was used by the Republic during the Unification Wars around 25,000 BBY. A reduced six spoked symbol was used during the Clone Wars by the Republic immediately before the rise of the Empire.

The symbol was later the basis for the emblem of the Galactic Empire which was slightly altered; the symbol was modified from the eight-spoke form to the six-spoke form, but when it happened is a point of historical debate.

At the end of the Galactic Civil War, the New Republic restored the Old Republic's system government, though with editing of forms to reduce the probability of abuses. The Bendu was reinstated but, due to its similarity to the much-hated Imperial Crest, it was not widely adopted as an official symbol and the Alliance Starbird all but supplanted it.

Behind the scenes
Interestingly, in ROTS during the Battle of Coruscant (Clone Wars), Anakin's fighter bears the Clone Wars version of the six-spoke symbol and not the eight-spoke symbol. This can be seen when R2 fights the buzz droid.

The name "Bendu" may come from George Lucas's original name for the Jedi Knights: the Jedi Bendu.

The idea that Palpatine corrupted the Bendu symbol is most likely based on Adolf Hitler's alteration of the pre-existing Indian swastika to symbolize hatred and supremacy.

Another similarity between the Old Republic and India is the close resemblance of the symbol in both appearance and meaning to the dharmachakra, a Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu symbol of unity that appears on the Indian flag. This may indicate some link between the Bendu beliefs and dharma. Links between Jedi beliefs and eastern philosophy have been theorised before.

The dharmachakra or "wheel of dharma" is also eight-spoked, and is closely related to the dharmic swastika symbol, indicating another possible connection to Hitler's distortion of the swastika.

In Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War Republic Navy starships are emblazoned with a blue nine-spoke symbol. Coincidentaly, the flag of the Khoonda on Dantooine (3,956 BBY to 3,951 BBY) which appeared 39 years later in Knights of the Old Republic II, had a nine-spoked blue symbol.

The Bendu symbol, having eight spokes, is also similar to the Buddhist's symbol for the Noble Eightfold Path, a wheel formed with eight spokes.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Millennium Falcon
 * Millennium Falcon

Notes and references
Bendu

- Phœnix - Guilde Francophone