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A new Canadian Army logo, widely mocked online as resembling a bear having sex with a moose, was greenlit by top military brass without a single objection, according to leaked documents.
Approved in March 2024 and unveiled in May, the pixelated maple leaf design ignited a firestorm of criticism.
National Defense claims the logo is a direct representation of the Army's new camouflage pattern. It is composed of brown pixels arranged to form a maple leaf, taken directly from the pattern itself.
Social media erupted with ridicule, comparing the logo to everything from a pile of feces to Minecraft graphics.
Online critics lambasted the new Army logo, with some vehemently protesting what they believed to be a replacement of the official emblem.
A new Canadian Army logo, widely mocked online as resembling a bear having sex with a moose, was greenlit by top military brass without a single objection, according to leaked documents
National Defense claims the logo is a direct representation of the Army's new camouflage pattern. It is composed of brown pixels arranged to form a maple leaf, taken directly from the pattern itself.
Due to the public backlash, the Canadian Armed Forces did apologize for the confusion. However, they still defended the logo and claimed it was a supplementary design, not a replacement for the official emblem.
But internal documents obtained by Ottawa Citizen reveal a carefully planned and executed initiative, approved by the deputy army commander and top leadership.
The new logo was greenlit by the deputy army commander on March 21, 2024.
It underwent further review at a public affairs town hall before receiving final approval from top military brass on April 12. Remarkably, no concerns were raised about the design at any stage of the process.
However, internal documents stipulated strict usage guidelines, inexplicably forbidding the logo from being flipped horizontally or vertically.
Amidst the uproar, questions swirled about the logo's origin and approval, with some demanding the responsible parties be fired.
While opposition politicians accused the Liberal government of imposing the design, leaked documents reveal it was an in-house Army project.
Despite the controversy, the Canadian Armed Forces confirmed the logo's continued use in various internal and external applications.
National Defence spokesman Alex Tétreault told the Ottawa citizen that the new logo is in use.
'The icon design will be displayed in the bottom left corner of various internal and external products and presentations,' he stated in an email to the Ottawa Citizen. 'It will also be used in video animation and content generated for social media.
Social media erupted with ridicule, comparing the logo to everything from a pile of feces to Minecraft graphics.
Due to the public backlash, the Canadian Armed Forces did apologize for the confusion. However, they still defended the logo and claimed it was a supplementary design, not a replacement for the official emblem.
The logo was a component of a broader Army rebranding effort aimed at 'establishing and maintaining credibility,' according to the service's May public affairs strategy, authored by then-commander Lt. Gen. Jocelyn Paul.
The Army has opted against conducting a post-mortem analysis to assess the rollout or understand the reasons behind the negative reaction, according to Tétreault.
While acknowledging the logo was developed in-house at no additional cost to taxpayers, former senior military public affairs officer Brett Boudreau maintained the overall initiative was a failure.
'Not conducting lessons-learned on initiatives such as this to understand the positive and negative is an abdication of professional responsibility and a failure of senior leader oversight of the communications function,' said Boudreau.
'Going forward, it essentially guarantees a repeat of bad process, decisions, planning and outcomes in similar undertakings.'
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