King and queen of world's largest mediaeval re-enactment group wear swastikas to coronation

Monarchs step down and apologise to 'all society members of the Jewish faith, people of colour, and anyone else who has suffered at the hands of ignorance and hate'

Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism participate in a battle (Sir Nathan Blacktower/SCA Facebook)

The newly crowned king and queen of a group within the world’s largest mediaeval history organisation have given up their crowns after being caught wearing swastikas to their coronation ceremony.

The swastikas were donned by two members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a 30,000-person society of hobbyists dedicated to “researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe”.

The members in question – known in the society as Athanaric and Sigriðr – had recently been named king and queen of Caid, an SCA “kingdom” that encompasses Southern California, Southern Nevada and Hawaii.

Choosing new monarchs is a regular part of SCA membership, along with competing in tournaments, participating in royal courts, and attending feasts. Kings are generally selected through a combat tournament, and coronations are widely attended, public events.

For their coronation last month, Athanaric and Sigriðr commissioned personalised coats. Pictures from the event show the coats were trimmed with fabric bearing handwoven swastikas and the letters “HH” – a symbol often used to mean “heil Hitler”.

When photos from the coronation spread to other kingdoms, their fellow members were not happy.

“It took about a week for the news to get to everyone else,” said Arik Mendelevitz, a member of a midwestern SCA kingdom. “...Most people thought it was real s***ty”.

The issue was brought to the SCA board of directors, and the king and queen were forced to apologise – sort of.

In an apology posted to the Kingdom of Caid website, Athanaric and Sigriðr defended the swastika trim as “very complex historical art” and “an extremely accurate presentation”. In a Facebook post, the weaver of the trim described it as a “Snartemo 5” pattern from 5th Century Norway.

Other members were not impressed.

“There is no person in the SCA who is not aware of what this symbol means in modern iconography,” SCA member Harold Feld wrote on Facebook.

He added: “Just as a red octagon is recognised as ‘stop’ even without the word, just as a red cross of a particular shape on a white background is recognised as the international symbol of the red cross, the swastika is instantly recognised as the symbol of Nazi ideology.”

Such sentiments proved popular. Just three weeks after their coronation, amid widespread SCA outcry, Athanaric and Sigriðr decided to abdicate the throne. They issued a second apology, expressing their regrets to “all society members of the Jewish faith, people of color, and anyone else who has suffered at the hands of ignorance and hate”.

The SCA board said in a statement that it condemns all forms of hate speech and “strives to include and be respectful of all people, regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and politics”.

Mr Mendelevitz, who is Jewish, said he was surprised by the swastika incident, which was first reported by the Public Medievalist. He has been a member of SCA for nearly a decade, and said he has never experienced discrimination at an event.

“‘I have not seen hate speech; I have not seen anyone discriminated against based on religion or race,” he said. “...This is an exception to the rule.”