IOC: Take 'We the People' Off US Goalie Mask

Constitution quote is 'propaganda,' Olympic bosses say
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 17, 2014 1:30 AM CST
Updated Jan 17, 2014 4:00 AM CST
IOC: Take 'We the People' Off US Goalie Mask
Jessie Vetter has had to change her helmet to remove a portion of the preamble to the US Constitution, with the words "We the People", the Olympic rings and her last name.    (AP Photo/Ron Slater)

The goalie for the American women's hockey team has been told to remove a quote from the US Constitution from her helmet because it counts as "propaganda." The illustration of the document including the line "We the People" has been scrubbed from Jessie Vetter's helmet under International Olympic Committee rules, along with her name, though her helmet will still have a bald eagle and a Statue of Liberty on it when she competes at the Sochi Olympics next month, Yahoo reports.

"No writings of any kind to promote the country is allowed," helmet designer Ron Slater tells InGoal magazine. "A sort of 'our country is better than your country' kind of thing that the IOC frowns upon. Her name had to come off because they see it as self-promotion. They wanted everything to be team-based … Our original idea was 'land of the free, home of the brave,' and that would have had to have been removed as well." Before the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, Team USA goalies were ordered to remove helmet slogans including "Support Our Troops." (More Jessie Vetter stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X