The U.S. Coast Guard is facing criticism after quietly updating its internal rules to change how hate symbols are classified. Starting December 15, swastikas and nooses will no longer be considered “hate incidents.” Instead, these items will now fall under the label “potentially divisive.”
Back in 2020, then-Commandant Karl Schultz explicitly warned that symbols like swastikas and nooses were “widely identified with oppression or hatred” and called their presence “a potential hate incident.”
Now the new rules, confirmed by the Coast Guard, remove the term “hate incident” from official use entirely. Going forward, any complaints involving these symbols will only be addressed if a specific victim comes forward, and they will be handled as harassment cases.
Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen strongly pushed back against the changes.
“This updated policy rolls back important protections against bigotry and could allow for horrifically hateful symbols like swastikas and nooses to be inexplicably permitted to be displayed,” she said. “At a time when antisemitism is rising in the United States and around the world, relaxing policies aimed at fighting hate crimes not only sends the wrong message to the men and women of our Coast Guard, but it puts their safety at risk.”
In response, Acting Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday defended the move, stating, “These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy.” He emphasized that violations “will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished.”
The changes also reflect broader shifts within military leadership, with Trump removing former Commandant Linda Fagan for what officials described as prioritizing diversity over readiness.
This revision also follows Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent order to reexamine how the military defines harassment and hazing, arguing that current standards may hurt operational performance.
