The U.S. Coast Guard will stop classifying swastikas and nooses as hate symbols under a revised policy that takes effect next month. Instead, the symbols will be labeled “potentially divisive,” part of a broader overhaul that also softens guidance on Confederate imagery.

According to a review of both the 2023 and 2025 Coast Guard civil rights policies by Newsweek, the older version directly listed swastikas, nooses, and Confederate flags as examples of potential hate incidents. The new version drops that list and instead refers to such imagery as “potentially divisive,” leaving decisions about enforcement more open to interpretation.

The policy shift follows Trump administration directives to loosen hazing and harassment rules , which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has argued were

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