Defence department clarifies rebrand after public outrage, bewilderment

The Canadian Armed Forces has clarified that its official emblem remains unchanged, following widespread confusion and public outcry over a recently introduced icon that sparked ridicule online.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence, the new design launched and announced on X on Friday morning is not a replacement but a supplementary icon meant to promote a new camouflage pattern.

“The icon launched today is a supplementary design that will be used in the bottom left corner of certain communications products and in animations for videos,” said the spokesperson.

With the video and posts lacking an official explanation, Canadians took to social media to speculate what the icon could be. Some of the proposed ideas included a moose, a map of Canada or some sort of pixelated figure from the popular video game Minecraft. 

Nobody seemed to agree on what the abstract icon was until the Canadian Armed Forces replied in an exclusive email to True North.

The icon comes in addition to the army’s official logo, and is intended to coincide with the recent launch of the Canadian Disruptive Pattern Multi-Terrain.

“The icon is intended to highlight the colours used in that pattern. In particular, the icon resembles the pixels, in shades of brown, topped by a small maple leaf and was extracted from this pattern. The icon was developed without additional funds or involvement of external companies. It was developed by (the Department of National Defence’s) internal graphic design team, and this icon comes at zero expense to the taxpayer,” said the spokesperson. 

The Canadian Army released a “revitalized branding” of its logo to X on Friday morning that left many people scratching their heads.

The post was quickly ratioed, having more than triple the comments as it had likes on Friday.

Many of the post’s replies were from users on X trying to guess what the logo might be or noting their disbelief at the new design.

“I honestly don’t know what that is. And my son loves Minecraft,” said freelance journalist Andy Lee.

Another journalist, Spencer Fernando, highlighted the military and federal government’s misguided priorities while alluding to his best guess of what the logo might be.

“Canadian soldiers: ‘Can we have modern equipment?’ Canadian government: ‘Best we can do is pixelated moose engaged in dubious activities,’” said Fernando.

Another writer alluded to his best guess. 

“The Canadian Army has just rebranded themselves… as a rejected 1981 Atari game…?” said author Andrew King.

Of the nearly 1,000 replies, primarily negative, nobody seemed to be able to determine what the logo was.

All the Canadian Army said in its post was, “Introducing the revitalized branding for the Canadian Army! Tell us in the comments what you think about it.” 

Following the hundreds of negative replies, the official account issued a follow-up post three hours later but provided little clarification. 

“Introducing a new icon and refreshed tagline for the Canadian Army, featuring the new CADPAT MT (Multi-Terrain) pattern. It is designed to complement our official Canadian Army logo,” they wrote in a post to X.

The accompanying link shared by the Canadian Army in its follow-up post offered no details on the logo and spoke only about an updated uniform pattern.

Canada’s military facing public outcry for its decisions is not a new phenomenon.

True North previously reported that Canadian military bases mandated menstrual products, including tampons and pads, to be provided in men’s washrooms by Dec. 15, 2023.

Many respondents to the recent post highlighted this previous announcement in their replies.

“Where are the Pride flags and tampons for men?” asked one X user.

“Really excited about the new tampon dispensers in men’s rooms,” said another — Ezra Levant, founder of Rebel News.

True North previously reported that almost every article in an issue of the Canadian Military Journal was devoted to critical race theory and disparaging “whiteness” in the military. 

“It’s obvious that the person who designed this was hired for their lack of being a White male, not their design skills,” said one X user.

Recruitment issues in Canada’s military persist despite the government’s plan to boost recruitment by lowering standards and promoting diversity over merit. 

Only 5,242 Canadians joined the Armed Forces in 2022, a 35% decrease from 8,069 in 2021.

This decrease comes despite the Minister of National Defence announcing on Dec. 5, 2022, that permanent residents were welcome to apply and enroll in Canada’s military.

The Canadian Army told True North that it regrets any confusion caused by the post to X.

“We once again reiterate that the official Army icon remains unchanged. Canadian soldiers at home and around the world remain proud of our official emblem,” concluded the spokesperson.