Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoos is ending a partnership with a group providing tickets to veterans following complaints that the group was using a controversial thin blue line image.
The thin blue line symbol – a blue line across a maple leaf – is considered a sign of police solidarity, but has also been criticized as a symbol of white supremacy.
Officials at Tattoo, an annual show featuring military music and other artists in Halifax, said on Twitter on Wednesday that they broke ties with the Valor Maritime Society, thanking people for bringing the matter to their attention. When contacted, a spokesperson for Tattoo declined further comment until the annual show ended on Saturday.
VALOR is a non-profit group that raises funds to help veterans and first responders seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. It was included last November.
Group president Graham Walsh said he was told by email that Tattoo had received complaints that the VALOR logo included a thin blue line symbol, but he dismissed those claims, saying that the logo had a maple leaf. The line across the k isn’t blue – it’s teal.
“I responded to Tattoo and I expressed disappointment, and I was disappointed that they would send me that email without actually talking to me about the allegations made via social media,” Walsh said in an interview Thursday. Will send me.”
“Our Canadian flag that we use in our logo uses a teal line,” he said. “Teal is the international ribbon color for PTSD awareness.”
Walsh said Tattoo executives initially apologized for the confusion, but later called them to say they were facing continued protests and were ending the partnership.
Walsh said, ‘It’s very unfortunate. “As a society we are deeply hurt that tattoos have left us because of false allegations. I really hope it doesn’t harm society itself in the coming weeks.
However, Walsh acknowledged that his group uses the hashtag #ThinBlueLine in some of its posts on Facebook.
“We use a lot of different hashtags,” Walsh said. “Maybe that’s something we need to discuss with our board of directors.”
L Jones, a professor of political and Canadian studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, says he’s not surprised the tattoo partnership was quick to end.
“The thin blue line symbol is not a neutral symbol,” she said in an interview on Thursday. “It is not just a symbol of policing. It is closely linked to the Blue Lives Matter movement, a movement that excuses and defends police committing violence against black people.
Jones said that over the years, Tattoo has attempted to be more inclusive with variety shows like Black Choirs. He said the use of the Thin Blue Line symbol or hashtag for tattoos is bad public relations.
But she said the organizers of the tattoo should consider the wider issues of persuading security forces.
“The broader issue is the meaning of the tattoo,” Jones said.
“And is it appropriate to hold a celebration of policing and the military at this time in history.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 30, 2022.
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