Fanshawe College unveiled a new logo on April 2 as part of its nine-month branding practice. The logo, dubbed NorthStar, has since garnered media attention due to similarities to a hate symbol — according to some.

“The new Fanshawe College logo sort of looks like a Swastika. #Fanshawe #hateit” and “Cool swastika, bro. ‘Fanshawe College launches new brand and logo london.ctvnews.ca/fanshawe-colle...'” were just two of the many tweets and comments that flooded in after the College's announcement.

The College remains positive, however, and stands by its new logo.

“When symbols change, it is reasonable to expect some mixed reviews,” said Tony Frost, executive director of reputation and brand management in a release sent to staff. “In recent days some have voiced concern that the logo may resemble a symbol of hate. This is a serious claim and we regret that our logo may have been misinterpreted in such a way.”

Frost, after doing research, likened the situation to Columbia Sportwear's own brush with controversy.

“It's a similar kind of style; it's a rotated square and [has] straight lines,” he said. “[Columbia] is run by a Jewish family. In fact, a Jewish family that escaped from Nazi Germany. It's quite clear they didn't produce a logo to look like a swastika, but they get trapped into this look by some people who criticize it.”

Frost said the previous logo, which launched in 1981, received similar feedback.

“The previous logo was also criticized for looking like a swastika,” he said. “People today don't say that. People come around and they see it and they accept it.”

Professor of Jewish Studies and a Holocaust Scholar, Dr. Darren Marks of Huron University College told London's AM980 that he saw similarities to the hate symbol and decided to consult others.

“I felt maybe I was a little bit over sensitive so once I saw the logo I picked up my phone and trundled on down the hallways here at Huron College and asked seven people and of the seven, six immediately said they saw a swastika when I asked the question, ‘What do you see?'”

Frost said the College will not rethink the logo and said it is not “functionally realistic” to go back to square one.

“There's always people who are unhappy with what you deliver, but that's okay,” he said. “At the end of the day people are passionate about it. People love the Fanshawe brand. I'd rather have that than have people say they don't really care.”

It was revealed that out of over 2,500 respondents to a survey, NorthStar was preferred two to one.

Is the worst over? Frost seems to think so.

“We monitor social media and traditional media all the time. When this came out, there was a blip and it's died off to now [on April 7],” he explained. “Two days later — because the weekend doesn't count — two days later there's absolutely no activity whatsoever.”

“People have moved on. We don't anticipate that there is an issue.”

Frost hopes the public will come around.

“[I hope] that people give it time. Give it a chance,” he said. “The process that we went through; we have to trust the process and trust all the people that we consulted with. At the end of the day, this will get Fanshawe to the right place and that's all I'd ask people to do.”

Whether you see it, whether you don't; snowflake, swastika, star — the logo is here to stay.