Barclays eagle comes down for Dutch bank bid?
August 21, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
A Dorset branch of Barclays Bank has had an eagle emblem removed in a bid to avoid “Nazi” connotations, it has been claimed.
The metal eagle, which has stood outside Barclays House in Poole for 30 years, was taken down on Sunday.
There has also been speculation that the bank is being especially attentive to the sensitivities of its Dutch customers, due to its current takeover bid for Amsterdam-based ABM Amro.
Anti-German feeling in Holland stems from the country’s occupation by the Nazis – in whose symbolism the eagle features prominently.
The bank claimed officially that the bird was out of date – with a different version of the eagle currently being used for Barclays’ branding.
Nevertheless, an anonymous source at the bank told the Times that the eagle had been “rather Teutonic-looking”, and might have had “unfortunate connotations”.
Barclays has in fact been branded with an eagle symbol since 1728, when it moved to new premises in the City, according to the BBC.
It is currently locked in a battle with a rival consortium headed up by the Royal Bank of Scotland for the right to take over the Dutch bank.
