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Barclays removes eagle but
denies Nazi concerns
Reuters
Wednesday Aug 22, 2007
Barclays has removed its trademark eagle from a major bank
building, feeding media talk it was ditching the Nazi-redolent
logo to please its proposed Dutch partner ABN AMRO.
But Barclays denied the suggestion, saying the 4-metre (14 foot)
wide aluminium bird atop Barclays House in Poole was an out-dated
version of its eagle emblem.
"It is purely because it is a very old version of our eagle,"
a spokesman for the bank said. "It has no other significance.
It has got nothing to do with Nazi logos. It has got nothing to
do with the potential merger with ABN AMRO."
Barclays' logo bears a resemblance to the German spread eagle,
an old national symbol that was adopted by the Nazis. ABN AMRO
is reported to be concerned it would be poorly received in the
Netherlands, which was occupied by Germany in World War Two.
(Article continues below)
The bank's link to the eagle goes back to 1728, pre-dating the
Nazis' rise to power by more than 200 years, when it was associated
with a bank in London which later became Barclays.
The Barclays eagle was softened by brand consultants in a 1999
makeover.
The version now displayed at bank branches is of an eagle with
rounded wings and head and no talons. The one taken down from
the Barclays building in Poole on Monday was more fearsome with
a sharp beak, pointed wings and outstretched talons.
Barclays received regulatory approval to buy ABN from the Dutch
Finance Ministry last week. But its offer of 63 billion euros
(43 billion pounds) for the bank falls short of the 71 billion
euros offer from a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Sources close to the matter have said Barclays could adopt ABN's
shield logo if its bid is successful but would hang on to the
eagle if it fails.
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