The U.S. Coast Guard plans to stop classifying Nazi swastikas and nooses as hate symbols under a policy taking effect Dec. 15, a claim the service has denied.
The Washington Post, which reviewed the policy documents, said the swastika and other emblems previously listed as potential hate symbols will now be categorized as "potentially divisive.”
While the Confederate flag remains banned, certain historical displays or artwork where the Confederate flag is a minor element are still permissible, it reported.
The Coast Guard, a military service under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been updating its rules to reflect the Trump administration’s push to narrow definitions of hazing and harassment across the armed services, it added.
In September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a review of military harassment policies, calling prior standards "overly broad,” saying they jeopardize U.S. troops’ combat readiness.
A Coast Guard official familiar with the new language said it was a "chilling” shift in policy. "We don’t deserve the trust of the nation if we’re unclear about the divisiveness of swastikas,” he told the Post.
The Coast Guard rejected the "categorically false” reporting.
"The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false. These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy,” Acting Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said in a statement.
DHS dismissed the report as an "unequivocally false” claim, with a spokesperson accusing the newspaper of publishing "fake” information.
