Logo meant to be ‘hands and arms,’ not a swastika, school district says

A Virginia school district is “deeply sorry” for distributing T-shirts with a logo resembling a swastika. It was intended to depict “four hands and arms grasping together,” the district’s superintendent said in a statement of apology.

A teacher in Hanover County Public Schools designed the logo for a countywide educational conference taking place this week. It was emblazoned on conference materials and T-shirts handed out to participants, and a photo was posted on the district’s Facebook page — where it drew a flood of comments noting the resemblance to a swastika.

“We are deeply sorry for this mistake and for the emotions that the logo has evoked by its semblance to a swastika and, by extension, to the atrocities that were committed under its banner,” Superintendent Michael Gill said. “Unquestionably, we condemn anything associated with the Nazi regime in the strongest manner possible.”

The Facebook post has been removed.

Daniel Staffenberg, chief executive of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, said he appreciated the school system’s quick response.

The NAACP chapter in Hanover County issued a statement calling the logo an example of problems that can arise because of a lack of “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Last week, before the controversy arose, the chapter had called for school employee training in those values and had also urged the Hanover Board of Supervisors to “reconsider” some school board appointments.

One of those school members responded by calling the chapter president “an angry African American lady,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. He later apologized.

Last month, an elementary school in Georgia redesigned their school’s logo for a second time after parents pointed out that the new one resembled the Nazi Party’s eagle emblem.