New Orleans Saints' Logo Is A Symbol Of Slavery

After the recent uproars involving the Confederate Flag, the New Orleans Saints‘ logo has drawn the ire of a portion of the population. The fleur de lis, which is presented proudly on the Saints’ helmets and jerseys, is a French Symbol that has been used by royal families since the 13th century. It does, however, represent a symbol of slavery, and there are groups calling for its immediate removal.

“As an African I find it painful, and I think people whose ancestors were enslaved here may feel it even harder than I do as an African,” said slave historian Dr. Ibrahima Seck.

Seck attaches the usage of the fleur de lis to “code noir,” or black code, which was adopted in Louisiana in 1724 and used to govern the state’s slave population. Seck said a slave caught running away, “would be taken before a court and the sentence would be being branded on one shoulder and with the fleur de lis, and then they would crop their ears.”

Tulane history professor Terence Fitzmorris said, “It was a brutal way of scarring someone and also identifying someone as a particular troublemaker.” Fitzmorris, though, won’t go as far as to say it should be removed: “The fleur de lis was the symbol of a monarchy. The United States of America was a slave-holding republic, not just the south. Where do you stop? Do you get rid of all symbols?”

Back in 2008, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed into law that the fleur de lis would officially be named the symbol of New Orleans, which makes it unlikely that the Saints will be forced to removed the symbol from their uniforms. Jindal used the fleur de lis as a symbol of unity, after all of the troubles that the city had been through due to Hurricane Katrina.

Now that this has been brought to the forefront, it will be interesting to see how the general public reacts. The country has gotten on board with trying to force the Washington Redskins to change their name due to the derogatory term “Redskin,” which is seen as racially insensitive to the Native American population. Essentially, the Saints’ symbol creates the same racial issues as the Redskins’ name, and it’s possible there could be a call-to-action to change the fleur de lis, although unlikely.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.