French anti-racism group Licra asks Saint-Denis to drop logo

The League International Against Racism and Antisemitism (Licra) has formally requested that the city of Saint-Denis cease using a logo that bears a strong resemblance to its own. The demand has sparked a dispute with the city's new mayor, Bally Bagayoko, who argues that the logo was adopted by the previous municipal team and that replacing it now will impose an unexpected financial burden.

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When the previous municipal team could use this logo in all tranquility, ours should today assume, urgently, its replacement and its cost.

Bagayoko, elected in March, expressed frustration on social media platform X, stating the city had received a formal notice from Licra to discontinue the use of the tricolor logo featuring three faces. "When the previous municipal team could use this logo in all tranquility, ours should today assume, urgently, its replacement and its cost," he protested. The mayor questioned why the potential for confusion, which he claims went unnoticed for years, had suddenly become an issue under his administration. He highlighted that revising the city's signage across municipal buildings would represent a substantial expense.

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The city has been using a logo that has belonged to Licra for twenty years, irrespective of the current leadership.

Licra, however, maintains that its request is based on fundamental trademark rights. Mario Stasi, president of Licra, told AFP that the city has been using a logo that has belonged to Licra for twenty years, irrespective of the current leadership. Stasi declined to provide details of the legal correspondence but described it as "very sober and very technical." Licra stated that the letter, sent two months prior, had gone unanswered. The organization also criticized Bagayoko's public post as "sensationalist and inaccurate," suggesting he was escalating a controversy the Licra wished to avoid.

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very sober and very technical.

The logo in question was publicly presented in October 2024 as a shared emblem for Saint-Denis and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, cities that were in the process of merging. At the time, socialist mayor Mathieu Hanotin was quoted in Le Parisien praising the "human-faced logo" as representing the "first commune in France to choose to be represented by its inhabitants." The design agency Royalties had stated it based the graphic on profiles of approximately 150 residents. Licra now contests that this logo is "likely to create confusion" with its own and was "not registered with INPI" (the French National Institute of Industrial Property).

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likely to create confusion.