{"id":868794,"date":"2026-04-18T00:54:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T00:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/868794\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T00:54:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T00:54:34","slug":"washington-commanders-new-logo-criticized-by-native-american-groups-disappointing-and-inappropriate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/868794\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Commanders\u2019 New Logo Criticized by Native American Groups: \u2018Disappointing and Inappropriate\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Featured-2-Washington-Commanders.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-43241\"  \/> Washington Commanders<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Commanders\u2019 new logo has sparked backlash among the Native American community.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, April 15, the NFL team debuted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXJ8sqijitN\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">a new alternative logo<\/a> featuring a golden spear that goes through the team\u2019s regular \u201cW\u201d logo in red. According to the post, the spear and letter \u201cinterweave at their centers, a powerful joining of past and present.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The caption to the post adds, \u201cpieces of then and now, tied to one legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the decision to provide any link to the team\u2019s past name and branding has been <a href=\"https:\/\/globemagazine.com\/nfl-reporter-posts-scathing-takedown-of-dianna-russini-after-she-resigns-amid-affair-scandal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">met with criticism<\/a> by some Native American organizations, many of whom were instrumental in getting the team to finally change its name and their mascot in 2020.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Featured-1-Washington-Commanders-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-43238\"  \/> Washington Commanders<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Washington Commanders\u2019 decision to update their logo is <a href=\"https:\/\/globemagazine.com\/nfl-reporter-dianna-russinis-comment-about-average-husband-resurfaces-after-photos-with-mike-vrabel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">disappointing and inappropriate<\/a> to say the least,\u2019\u2019 the Association on American Indian Affairs said in a statement to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/commanders\/2026\/04\/17\/washington-commanders-new-logo-native-american-response\/89649585007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">USA Today Sports<\/a>. \u201cIt is time to stop repeating this cycle and listen to Native Peoples who have been clear, consistent, and unwavering on this issue: We are not your mascot.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Suzan Harjo, a Native American activist who was involved in<a href=\"https:\/\/globemagazine.com\/rebel-wilson-fires-back-amid-being-embroiled-in-two-lawsuits-surrounding-her-directorial-debut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> two lawsuits<\/a> designed to force the team to change its previous mascot and name, told the outlet that she believes the attempt to link the past to the present is simply a disingenuous effort to appease people who didn\u2019t want the name changed in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of people in Washington D.C. (and parts of Virginia and Maryland) who really long for the days of the dreaded R-word,\u2019\u2019 Harjo said. \u201cIt was a vile name. It was one of the vilest ever.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders\u2019 new logo has sparked backlash among the Native American community. On Tuesday, April&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":868795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,7,6,9,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-868794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-washington","13":"tag-washington-commanders","14":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116422985717243571","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}