Red Wings logo used by white supremacists in Charlottesville

Greg Wyshynski

In Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday night, a collection of white supremacists and nationalists and Nazi cos-players and frightened man-babies marched on McIntire Park, taking issue with the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a municipal park.

Many of them carried tiki torches, an item that was popularized in the 20th century as so many things are by white Americans: By misappropriating another culture’s iconography and artifacts in an unending Borg-like quest for assimilation, and then selling them at Party City.

Ah, but the tiki torches apparently weren’t the only symbol borrowed by the Stephen Miller Appreciation Society. Sadly, one of the most iconic logos in the National Hockey League, and all of sports, has made its way onto some signs and flags.

Yes, white nationalists have been carrying Detroit Red Wings logos to their family picnics.

Why? We did a modicum of research, for a lack of desire to wade into the waters of white supremacist message boards, waters that we assume smell like sweaty black T-shirts, pilsners and self-pity.

Here’s a theory: The winged wheel was a part of the logo for Deutsche Reichsbahn, or DRB, the national German railroad that was used during the Holocaust. You’ll see some of these logos have a passing-at-best resemblance to the Detroit Red Wings logo, but one imagines it’s a bit easier to get a magnetic Red Wings logo for your poster-board Dungeons and Dragons shield than something from 1937 Germany.

Another theory: White supremacists have adopted the name from “Operation Red Wing,” a 2005 incident during the War in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of 19 Americans, many of them Navy SEALs.

Another theory, this time with some photo evidence, from 50 Mission Cap on Twitter:

And another from ElectricBuddha here, which makes sense:

If you have more info on the connection between the logo and the “Unite The Right” rally, please drop them in the comments.

The Red Wings denounced the use of their logo on Saturday morning:

Meanwhile, this is depressing and sad and infuriating and then even more depressing.

It’s hard enough to beat back the constant stereotypes of “hockey so white” without having ACTUAL NAZIS carrying around NHL logos. (“Hey, we’ve made real inroads in expanding the … oh, you saw a Nazi in a Bob Whitelaw jersey? Yeah I got nuthin’…”)

C’mon, guys, at least use a team that doesn’t exist anymore. The Thrashers have a fancy bird AND played in the Confederacy! Use them!

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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