Barclays removes eagle but denies Nazi concerns

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. Reuters