The U.S. Coast Guard is disputing claims that new policy updates will soften its position on hate symbols such as swastikas and nooses.
Following the initial report, Admiral Kevin Lunday, the acting commandant of the Coast Guard, told Newsweek that it is “categorically false” that the symbols are no longer prohibited, adding that they “have been and remain prohibited.”
“The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false,” Lunday said.
On Friday, it was reported that the U.S. Coast Guard will reportedly no longer classify the swastika, nooses, and the Confederate flag as hate symbols under a revised policy set to take effect next month.
According to The Washington Post, which reviewed the new policy documents ahead of their release, those symbols will no longer be labeled “potentially divisive” in official guidance. In previous policy language, Nazi insignia and other white supremacist or anti-Semitic imagery were described as indicators of a “potential hate incident” if displayed.
“The display of these types of symbols constitutes a potential hate incident because hate-based groups have co-opted or adopted them as symbols of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, or other bias,” the Coast Guard’s 2023 policy stated.
The updated policy shifts that definition. “Potentially divisive symbols and flags include, but are not limited to, the following: a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, or other bias,” reads the revised document, dated November 2025.
Ahead of publication of the Post’s report, the Coast Guard declined to comment on the changes. Coast Guard spokeswoman Jennifer Plozai disputed the reporting, saying, “We will be reviewing the changes.” Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday did not directly address the updated phrasing but said such symbols “and other extremist or racist imagery violate our core values and are treated with the seriousness they warrant under current policy.”
Some within the agency expressed concern about the softened language. “We don’t deserve the trust of the nation if we’re unclear about the divisiveness of swastikas,” one Coast Guard official said on the condition of anonymity.