MARIETTA, Ga. — The rollout of a brand new emblem for an Atlanta space elementary faculty has been paused after dad and mom famous similarities to a Nazi image, although a faculty district stated the design was based mostly on a U.S. Military colonel’s eagle wings.

The Cobb County Faculty District stated Tuesday that it has halted distribution of the brand new emblem for East Facet Elementary Faculty in Marietta after it drew condemnation on social media.

The emblem depicts an eagle, the varsity’s mascot, over the varsity’s initials ES.

The Nazi eagle, which was developed within the 1920s and later turned a logo for white supremacists, depicts an eagle holding a swastika in its talons.

Georgia’s second-largest faculty district introduced plans to delay the brand new emblem whereas “instantly reviewing wanted adjustments.”

“We perceive and strongly agree that similarities to Nazi symbolism are unacceptable, though this design was based mostly on the U.S. Military colonel’s eagle wings, stakeholder enter has been and continues to be essential to our faculties,” the assertion stated.

A message to folks on Monday notified them of the brand new emblem. saying it was chosen to “symbolize the eagle hovering into excellence and to honor the historical past of our nice faculty.” The district has been working with all faculties to create logos, the message added.

The design drew a swift backlash on social media.

“I don’t wish to see my children carrying that on their shirt,” Mike Albuquerque, the daddy of two college students who will attend the varsity subsequent yr, instructed The Atlanta Journal-Structure. “Actually it’s an enormous oversight of the county and everybody concerned within the course of who reviewed that, to not name out the truth that this seems like Nazi iconography. Or perhaps, who is aware of, anyone did name it out and it wasn’t heard.”

East Facet Elementary is throughout the road from a synagogue.

Rbbi Amanda Flaks instructed WSB-TV she needed to look twice on the design.

“I assumed, ‘That appears off. That makes me uncomfortable,’ and I got here again to it a number of instances and I felt increasingly uncomfortable and sick every time,” Flaks stated, noting the conflict eagle was utilized by the Nazis in World World II and at present by different neo-Fascist and neo-Nazi sympathizer teams.

Flaks stated she contacted the varsity and bought an apology from the principal, together with photos of what the varsity district stated the brand was based mostly on.

She stated she was damage on many ranges, including, “my youngsters are nice grandchildren of somebody who fled the Nazi regime in Germany and survived the Holocaust.”

Stacy Efart stated that as a dad or mum and a member of the Jewish neighborhood, she was outraged.

“I wish to see the brand not solely taken away I need a direct apology to our neighborhood. Not simply the Jewish neighborhood however your entire neighborhood,” Efart stated.

The emblem controversy is barely the newest associated to antisemitism in Cobb faculties. Final month, a bunch started posting scorching pink billboards round metro Atlanta difficult folks to combat antisemitism, partly in response to incidents final faculty yr.

Graffiti depicting swastikas was present in two Cobb County excessive faculties in the course of the Jewish Excessive Holidays. A number of Cobb center faculty college students have been disciplined earlier this yr for sharing antisemitic imagery on social media.

Antisemitic incidents in Georgia greater than doubled between 2020 and 2021, in line with a report by the Anti-Defamation League. Georgia tallied 49 incidents in 2021.

“This isn’t the primary time Cobb County faculties have been tone-deaf to antisemitism,” stated Dov Wilker, director of the American Jewish Committee Atlanta area, in an announcement in regards to the emblem design. “Pretending that antisemitism doesn’t exist received’t make it go away. The kids who attend Cobb County faculties — and their households — deserve higher.”