Exeter Chiefs ditch native American branding in favour of new Celtic-inspired theme

Premiership rugby club Exeter Chiefs today confirmed a major shake-up in their branding following the announcement of a new logo and theme to be launched in July 2022.

Exeter will part ways with any native American branding after encountering criticism in recent years for promoting negative stereotypes related to that culture.

The top-flight outfit will instead take its inspiration from the Celtic Dumnonii Tribe, which inhabited the area now covering Devon and Cornwall (as well as parts of Somerset and Dorset) during the Iron Age.

Exeter—who won the Champions Cup in 2020—made the decision to retire the 'Big Chief' mascot in July 2020 amid mounting pressure from fans and campaign groups, but the Chiefs logo and imagery remained.

Many supporters have continued to wear native American headdresses at Sandy Park and other stadia, though the shift to a different kind of 'chief' heritage will be seen as progress.

“We are excited to welcome in the next era of rugby within Exeter,” said Tony Rowe, Exeter's chairman and chief executive.

“Exeter has and always will be the most important term in our overall identity. The term Chiefs, however, is equally entrenched in our make-up, going back to over a century ago when teams in this region would regularly call their first teams that of the Chiefs."

The pressure on Exeter to enact change was increased in November 2021 when the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) called the club's iconography "offensive and harmful."

The group's chief executive, Dante Desiderio, called for a change to the club's branding in a letter addressed to Rowe: "The will of Indian Country is clear – Native “themed” mascot imagery and the dehumanizing stereotypes it perpetuates must go."

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