A Civil War museum in Frederick, Maryland, that used to have a Confederate flag on its logo ditched the controversial symbol in a new logo that was unveiled Wednesday.
The previous logo for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine had both the Union and Confederate flags on it, while the new logo has no flags and instead features a series of symbols representing various elements of what the museum stands for.
“We’re trying to get a brand that reflects the story we tell,” said the museum’s executive director David Price.
Unveiling the logo was the culmination of a rebranding process that started in August of 2019.
The new logo is shaped like a shield and features the colors blue, red and gray. In the center of the logo is a caduceus, which is a military medical symbol.
According to Price, the shield represents academia, protection and the military.
The color blue represents the Union, the gray represents the Confederacy and the red represents field hospitals and the blood that was shed during the war.
There are three stars at the bottom of the logo which represent the museum and two other affiliated museums in the region.
“We are really trying to reach broader audiences,” said Price.
He said getting rid of the Confederate flag on the front of the building was part of that effort.
“People have strong opinions about the Confederate flag and we had to take the public opinion about that symbol into account,” said Price. “But we’re not erasing Confederate history from inside those walls. We intend to continue to tell the story of Confederate medical innovations and Union medical innovations as long as we can.”
The two affiliated museums, which now also have the new logo, include the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office in D.C. and the Pry House Field Hospital Museum in Keedysville, Maryland.
