Nazi symbol or not: New Cobb County school logo on hold after backlash

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Parent are outraged over a proposed logo for an elementary school in Cobb County.

The logo was going to be used at East Side Elementary in Marietta. That plan has since be halted amid condemnation on social media.

Stefanie Ollanove couldn’t believe what she was seeing. 

"I was shocked, I was stunned," Ollanove said. "A first I thought it couldn’t be our school."

"I was very insulted by this. As a Jewish family in this school system, it took me aback," Ollanove said.

Many have pointed out it resembles a Nazi symbol, though a school district said the design was based on a U.S. Army colonel’s eagle wings.

The logo depicts an eagle, the school’s mascot, over the school’s initials "ES".

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

East Side Elementary School (FOX 5)

"It’s upsetting. I shake. I had tears in my eyes," Ollanove.

"I was horrified," said Carianne Muse. "You’d think we have smart educators who would catch this way before it to this point." 

Muse shared an email from the school that read it’s pausing to review the logo, to determine needed changes. 

"I’d rather they had apologized and then actually said we’re taking everything down," Muse said. 

"It is a mistake but it got through too many levels," Ollanove said. "They need to apologize." 

Georgia’s second-largest school district announced plans to delay the new logo while "immediately reviewing needed changes."

"We understand and strongly agree that similarities to Nazi symbolism are unacceptable, although this design was based on the U.S. Army colonel’s eagle wings, stakeholder input has been and continues to be important to our schools," the statement said.

A message to parents on Monday notified them of the new logo. saying it was chosen to "represent the eagle soaring into excellence and to honor the history of our great school." The district has been working with all schools to create logos, the message added.

The design drew a swift backlash on social media.

East Side Elementary is across the street from a synagogue. Marty Gilbert is the executive director of Congregation Etz Chaim. 

"I tend to look at it as just ignorance and lack of knowledge," Gilbert said. "They should’ve done their homework a little bit better." 

Gilbert told FOX 5 he contacted the school Monday afternoon. He said the school got back to him Tuesday morning. "They responded. They told me they would fix it and they apologized. And we move forward from that."

The logo controversy is only the latest related to antisemitism in Cobb schools. Last month, a group began posting hot pink billboards around metro Atlanta challenging people to fight antisemitism, partly in response to incidents last school year.

Graffiti depicting swastikas was found in two Cobb County high schools during the Jewish High Holidays. Several Cobb middle school students were disciplined earlier this year for sharing antisemitic imagery on social media.

Antisemitic incidents in Georgia more than doubled between 2020 and 2021, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League. Georgia tallied 49 incidents in 2021.

"This is not the first time Cobb County schools have been tone-deaf to antisemitism," said Dov Wilker, director of the American Jewish Committee Atlanta region, in a statement about the logo design. "Pretending that antisemitism doesn’t exist won’t make it go away. The children who attend Cobb County schools — and their families — deserve better."

The Associated Press contributed to this report