(OSV News) — The U.S. Coast Guard has reclassified the swastika, the noose and the Confederate flag as hate symbols, after briefly downgrading them earlier in the week. And the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has called on the Trump administration “to develop a robust plan” with the Nigerian government to address an escalation of violence that is keeping “Nigerians of all religious backgrounds from openly practicing their faith” and in recent weeks has targeted predominantly Christian communities.
— Coast Guard ‘about face’ on hate symbols —
On Nov. 20, The Washington Post — citing documents it had reviewed — reported the Coast Guard had been set to implement a policy that, effective Dec. 15, such symbols would be considered “potentially divisive,” rather than hate symbols.
The Post also said the new policy permitted only 45 days to report an incident involving such symbols, whereas the previous policy did not set a deadline.
The move was part of a broader removal of the term “hate incident” from Coast Guard protocols, as announced in the agency’s updated harassment policy, dated Nov. 13.
Among those speaking out after the initial downgrading was Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. In a letter to Coast Guard acting commandant Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, Rabbi Pesner wrote, “There is no context aside from the educational or historical in which a swastika is not a hate symbol. … It is an emblem that has no place in the U.S. Coast Guard or anywhere else.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., told the Post, “At a time when antisemitism is rising in the United States and around the world, relaxing policies aimed at fighting hate crimes not only sends the wrong message to the men and women of our Coast Guard, but it puts their safety at risk.”
Later on Nov. 20, Lunday issued a revised policy, stating that “divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited,” among them “a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, anti-semitism, or any other improper bias.”
The Confederate battle flag “remains prohibited” across Coast Guard facilities, including in “plain view” displays as well as on bumper stickers, other vehicle decor and apparel, said Lunday in his order. He added that the ban “does not apply to state flags or state-issued license plates,” or to educational, historical or artistic displays.
The swastika, an ancient symbol, was appropriated by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime to promote Aryan nationalism and the systematic murder of some 6 million European Jews in the Shoah, the preferred Hebrew term for the Holocaust.
The hangman’s noose recalls the racially motivated lynchings of African Americans in the U.S., particularly throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It is described by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as an “iconic symbol of racial hatred.”
— USCIRF calls for a U.S.-Nigerian plan to secure freedom of religion or belief —
In a Nov. 21 statement, USCIRF said more is needed than just designating Nigeria as “a country of particular concern,” as President Donald Trump did in an Oct. 31 in a post on Truth Social. On Nov. 3, the State Department officially updated its designation of the West African nation using that language (abbreviated CPC).
The commission advocated for a plan that will “secure freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), hold perpetrators that violate religious freedom to account, and to support efforts to rescue those held captive because of their faith,” the commission said.
“USCIRF strongly condemns the killings and kidnappings at the Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara State,” said Vicky Hartzler, the commission’s chair. “It is imperative that the U.S. Government compel the Nigerian government to take immediate steps to prevent such attacks, allowing all Nigerians to safely attend religious services.”
On Nov. 19, attackers stormed Christ Apostolic Church in Nigeria’s Eruku state, killing three worshippers and abducting several others, including the pastor. No group has taken responsibility for the string of attacks, but advocates now say strongly that what happens to Christians in Nigeria is genocide.
Other violence that has taken place in Nigeria since the CPC designation includes a Nov. 21 attack on a Catholic school in the Diocese of Kontagora in Nigeria’s Niger state. An unspecified number of students and teachers were kidnapped from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, adding to a growing number of attacks on Christians in the West African nation.
The diocese confirmed the kidnapping in a statement saying the gunmen attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, in the Agwarra local government area, between 1 and 3 a.m. local time on Nov. 21.
The attackers abducted some students and teachers, and badly shot security personnel.
“Violent attacks against religious communities in Nigeria have become tragically commonplace, affecting Christians, Muslims, practitioners of traditional African religions, and others,” said Asif Mahmood, USCIRF’s vice chair. “The Nigerian government has not adequately addressed the violence, resulting in a pervasive climate of fear that deters Nigerians of all religious backgrounds from openly practicing their faith.”
Since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009, tens of thousands of people have been killed and over 3.5 million have been displaced in northeastern Nigeria, according to estimates by the United Nations’ refugee agency.
Christian communities have been among the hardest hit, with hundreds of churches destroyed and thousands of believers forced to flee from the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. According to Aid to the Church in Need, Christians in Nigeria face extremely high levels of violence — including killings, kidnappings and the destruction of churches.
The latest Intersociety report revealed that an average of 32 Christians are killed in Nigeria every day. The report published in August indicates that as many as 7,000 Christians were massacred across Nigeria in the first 220 days of 2025.
It said at least 185,000 people, including 125,000 Christians and 60,000 moderate Muslims, had been killed in Nigeria since 2009.
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina. Contributing to this story was Julie Asher, OSV senior editor.
