Following complaints from students that it looked like a German symbol of war, a Georgia school had its logo removed.
The Cobb County School District in Georgia, US, has backtracked on a new logo for its East Side Elementary School featuring an eagle design, after parents and local Jewish groups complained it resembled a Nazi “The war eagle” symbol.
“We have halted the rollout of this logo and are reviewing any changes immediately,” the district said in a statement released on Tuesday. “It is something we strongly believe in and understand that Nazi symbolsism should not be used. Although this design was based on the US Army colonel’s eagle wings, stakeholder input has been and continues to be important to our schools.”
The district added that it would be “Make any necessary changes immediately” to the design.
The offending logo featured a stylized gray eagle with the letters ES contained in a hexagon within its body, along with the school’s founding year 1952 and its location in Marietta, Georgia. The district originally released the images with the explanation that the logo was “selected to symbolize the Eagle Soaring to Excellence and honor our school’s history!”
The Cobb County School District said Tuesday it’s halted the rollout of East Side Elementary School’s new logo after critics say it resembles Nazi imagery and is offensive. https://t.co/p0g7NKFKap
— Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) July 20, 2022
East Side parent Stacy Efrat, who is Jewish, told local media that she wanted to see the school not only ditch the logo but issue a “Direct apology to our entire community This includes not only the Jewish community, but all of the community..” The school must “Immediately apologize for the error and take it off your mind” the offending logo, as well as admit its similarity to the Nazi war eagle, she said.
Rabbi and fellow East Side parent Amanda Flaks told local media she was “Very hurt at many levels” by the school’s redesigned emblem and called the principal demanding an apology, which she received. The school also sent her images of what East Side Elementary’s newly-minted logo was supposed to be based on.
Also, the Nazi war eagle emblem features a stylized bird facing right. The bird grips a swastika with its talons, and instead of the letters E inside its body. The colonel’s wings are slightly more rounded in design than the Nazi version or East Side’s own, with individual feathers and other details not found in the school district’s canceled new symbol.
Cobb County Schools have seen a recent rise in Nazi imagery-loving students. After being seen on social media giving fascist salutes, a group of middle school students was disciplined. Last year, a student vandalized a bathroom at Pope High School with swastikas and the (misspelled) phrase ‘Hail Hitler.’
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