The U.S. Coast Guard announced a revised directive regarding the display of hate symbols such as swastikas and nooses, following a report by The Washington Post. This comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aims to categorize these symbols as “potentially divisive.”

According to the Coast Guard’s statement, the updated policy strengthens existing rules that prohibit personnel from displaying or using hate symbols. The policy now includes more precise definitions, guidance, and expectations for its members.

The Washington Post highlighted that the Coast Guard intends to reclassify symbols like the swastika—historically associated with the Nazi Party and the Holocaust—alongside nooses and the Confederate battle flag, which are often linked to racial violence and slavery in the American South. This policy is slated to be effective starting December 15.

A memorandum from DHS released on Thursday emphasized that the Coast Guard does not condone the display of symbols or flags associated with division or hate, including those that symbolize oppression or hatred. Such symbols, the memo states, disrupt unit cohesion and are strictly prohibited.

The memo explicitly states that divisive or hate symbols and flags are banned, listing examples such as a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags that have been co-opted by hate groups to promote supremacy, intolerance, anti-Semitism, or other forms of bias.

Confederate battle flags are prohibited from all Coast Guard workplaces, facilities like barracks and other quarters. Bumper stickers and clothing accessories that show the flag are also banned, as well as inside vehicles with a view inside.

“This prohibition does not apply to state flags or state-issued license plates,” the memo states. “It does not apply to displays or depictions where the Confederate battle flag is only an incidental or minor component, such as in works of art, or in educational or historical displays.”

Commanders, commanding officers, officers-in-charge and supervisors will be responsible for ordering or directing the removal of any hateful symbols should they be found.

A previous policy introduced earlier this month stated that “the terminology ‘hate incident’ is no longer present in policy.” Behavior previously handled as possible hate incidents would, going forward, be handled as harassment “with an identified aggrieved individual.”

The latest policy update does not specify if USCG personnel can report that they were victims of a hate incident.

Coast Guard and DHS officials slammed the Post’s reporting as “categorically false,” as Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting USCG commandant, said in a statement. 

“The @washingtonpost should be embarrassed it published this fake crap,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote Thursday on social platform X.

Some lawmakers also condemned the Post over its reporting.

“Lynching is a federal hate crime,” Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) said in a short statement. “The world defeated the Nazis in 1945. The debate on these symbols is over. They symbolize hate.”

In a separate statement, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) said that two nooses were found at the Coast Guard Academy, with one found in a Black cadet’s bag.

“In response, then-Commandant Thad Allen personally flew up to the Academy campus in New London to emphatically tell cadets that this hate behavior has no place in the Coast Guard,” Courtney said. “Much work was done to make the Coast Guard safe and inclusive for its highly talented personnel.”

“It is appalling that the Coast Guard is taking this gigantic step backwards and reclassifying nooses and swastikas as ‘potentially divisive’, as opposed to what they are: hate symbols,” he continued. “It is deeply troubling that this decision was even considered and should be immediately reversed.”