Angry Brits want a royal order founded in 1818 under King George III redesigned because the image of St. Michael crushing the head of Satan reminds them of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on George Floyd.
A Change.org petition has garnered over 4,000 signatures demanding an alteration to The Order of St. Michael and St. George awarded to diplomats and senior Foreign Office officials serving abroad.
The U.K. Guardian, which first reported the activist’s claims, cited three ranks for the honor: Knight Grand Cross (GCMG); Knight Commander (KCMG); and Companion (CMG).
Supporters of the petition on the campaign page opined:
- “This image is vile & should be illegal.”
- “This has to go. No further discussion.”
- “This is a horrifying image of a white person dominating a black person.”
- “Everything like this has got to go right now!”
- “This hateful image perpetuates white domination over black and is completely inappropriate.”
- “It’s a horrible image of white supremacy.”
“This is a highly offensive image, it is also reminiscent of the recent murder of George Floyd by the white policeman in the same manner presented here in this medal,” added Tracy Reeve, the petition’s creator. “We the undersigned are calling for this medal to completely redesigned in a more appropriate way and for an official apology to be given for the offense it has given.”
Buckingham Palace did not reply to the newspaper’s request for comment prior to publication.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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