Coast Guard revises policy on ‘a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups’

The Coast Guard’s latest policy, issued late Thursday, declared that “symbols and flags of division or hate are prohibited,” before adding that this category includes “nooses, swastikas, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups.”

“This is not an updated policy but a new policy to combat any misinformation and double-down on the fact that the U.S. Coast Guard prohibits these symbols,” an accompanying Coast Guard press release said.

The late-night change came on the same day that media outlets, led by The Washington Post, discovered that the Coast Guard had written a policy earlier this month that described those same codes as “potentially divisive.” The term was a shift from a years-old policy, first introduced in 2019, that said symbols like the swastika and noose were “broadly identified with oppression or hate” and called their display a “potential hate incident.”

The latest policy rolled out Thursday night also unequivocally banned the display of any divisive or hateful symbols from all Coast Guard locations. The previous version stopped short of banning the symbols, instead saying that leaders could take steps to remove them from public display and that the rule did not apply to private places outside of public display, such as family residence.

Both policies maintained a long-standing ban on publicly displaying the Confederate flag outside of a small number of situations, such as educational or historical settings.

The latest Coast Guard policy appears to take effect immediately.

After the initial policy change became public, Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said the change “rolls back important protections against bigotry and could allow horrific symbols of hate like swastikas and nooses to be inexplicably displayed.”

“At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States and around the world, relaxing policies to combat hate crimes not only sends the wrong message to the men and women of our Coast Guard, it puts their safety at risk,” she added.

Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, said the policy did not rescind any ban, calling it “categorically false” to claim otherwise in a statement issued earlier Thursday.

“Such symbols were and continue to be prohibited in the Coast Guard in accordance with policy,” Lunday said in a statement, adding that “any display, use or promotion of such symbols will, as always, be thoroughly investigated and severely punished.”

Lunday’s predecessor, Adm. Linda Fagan, was fired on President Donald Trump’s first day in office. Trump officials later said she was fired in part because she placed “excessive focus” on diversity and inclusion efforts that diverted “resources and attention from operational imperatives.”

The old policy introduced earlier in November also explicitly stated that “the term ‘hate incident’ no longer exists in the policy” and that conduct that would previously have been treated as a potential hate incident will now be treated as “a report of harassment in cases in which an aggrieved individual has been identified.”

Commanders, in consultation with counsel, may order or direct the removal of “potentially divisive” symbols or flags if they are found to be affecting unit morale or discipline, according to this policy.

The most recent policy is silent on whether Coast Guard members will be able to claim they were victims of hate incidents.

The Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security, but is still considered part of the U.S. Armed Forces and the new policy was updated in part to align with similar Pentagon directives, according to a Coast Guard letter announcing the changes.

It has also historically modeled many of its human resources policies after other military services.

The policy change comes less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a review of all definitions of harassment, bullying and harassment across the military, arguing that the policies were “too broad” and that they “jeopardize combat readiness, mission accomplishment and confidence in the organization.”

The Pentagon could not provide any details on what specifically the review was looking at, whether it could lead to similar changes as outlined in Coast Guard policy or when the review would be completed.

“The swastika is the ultimate symbol of virulent hatred and intolerance, and for the Coast Guard to even consider not classifying it as such would be tantamount to dismissing the crosses and burning hoods of the Ku Klux Klan as merely ‘potentially divisive,’” Menachem Rosensaft, a Cornell law professor and Jewish community leader, said in a statement.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer described this move as “disgusting, and constitutes further encouragement from Republicans for extremism.”

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Hay reported from Norwich, Connecticut.