2021-05-06

Queens school brandishing a new logo

by KEVIN MCBAIN

  • <p>CONTRIBUTED PHOTO</p><p>This is the new logo that will be used by Liverpool Regional High School as submitted by Grade 10 student Autumn McDonald.</p>

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

After 58 years of going by the same logo, the Liverpool Regional High School now has a new one.

Grade 10 student Autumn McDonald designed the image, which features a shield in front of three crossed swords. The shield contains a W in its top right-hand corner.

The new logo will replace one that has been part of the school's branding since 1963. It featured the head of an Indigenous male wearing a headdress with the word "Warriors" underneath it.

Last year, the school's students voted in favour of making a design change.

"We've been talking about changing our logo for years now," Jordyn Duffney, one of the leaders of the change campaign, said in an earlier interview. "If you look at the logo, you can see it is quite offensive. I feel, as a school, we can't confidently go to games and competitions without knowing if we are offending anybody in the audience, or how people are going to see our logo."

Although a number of alumni were opposed to changing the logo, Principal Souhail Soujah and the students stuck to their decision.

McDonald agreed the logo should be changed. "As an Indigenous person myself, it wasn't good," she said.

McDonald's entry was one of seven that were designed and brought forward to the students who voted in a Google survey.

The choices were narrowed down to four. McDonald's piece went to the final round and her design won overwhelmingly.

"When I was trying to design a logo, I didn't really know what to do until my mom brought up the shield ideas, which is kind of a universal symbol," said McDonald, adding that she's excited about having her entry chosen.

According to McDonald, she's been interested in drawing since elementary school, and now can't think of anything she would rather do as a career.

Her artistry was also chosen by the students to grace the front of the 2020-21 school yearbook.

Todd Symes, vice-principal of the school, said different colour schemes and fonts are being worked on to come up with final designs that will be featured on school clothing, in the gym and on the uniforms of their athletic teams.

He hopes that everything will be in place by the beginning of the next school year. Meanwhile, it's expected that the school will continue to use its crest on official documents such as government papers and stationary.

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