December 19, 2007 | Category: Logo Design News | Tags: Logo Design News, mascot character design creation

Even age-old logos will have a hard time escaping critics clamoring for discrimination. Such is the case of Nordic Battlegroup’s male lion logo when it was “digitally emasculated” or castrated.

According to the Times, a group of female Swedish soldiers filed a sex discrimination complaint to the European Court of Justice simply because they could not identify with the male lion’s willy on their army crest. However, the lion is supposed to represent courage and nothing else.

Understandably, the logo designer Vladimir Sagerlund was very upset about this digital alteration for it has a historical value. In an interview with a Swedish newspaper he said, “The Army lacks knowledge about heraldry. Coats of arms containing lions without genitalia were given to those who betrayed the Crown.”

Adland commented this snip is really trivial since the lion is still clearly a male with that mane. Then again, this is an important reminder for many small business owners to think on a long-term basis when designing a logo and anticipate any form discrimination no matter how absurd. Indeed, this may be the saddest logo change of 2007.