Destiny 2 Armor That Resembles “Hate Symbol” To Be Removed From the Game

A piece of armor in Destiny 2 apparently unintentionally resembles an alt-right flag. Bungie has announced the removal of the offending loot from the game on Twitter, saying that the armor "shares elements with a hate symbol" and that it was not intentional, nor does it represent the company's values. 

"It’s come to our attention that a gauntlet in Destiny 2 shares elements with a hate symbol. It is not intentional. We are removing it. Our deepest apologies. This does NOT represent our values, and we are working quickly to correct this. We renounce hate in all forms."

The armor's symbol can be found below. The original intention of the symbols were lines next to arrows, but due to the spacing, it looks more like "kek". Originally, "kek" was simply a joke in World of Warcraft, which was a translation when Alliance players saw a Horde player type "lol." But much like the Pepe meme, it has taken an entirely different and unrelated meaning as of late.

Kek now refers to Kekistan, the fictional nation that the alt-right regularly refers to, which is a further reference to the god of disorder and chaos. The Kekistan flag is also based on the Nazi war flag, furthering its controversial status.

The black-and-green color scheme and the font (again, because of spacing) are very similar to the offensive symbol, and Bungie found the comparison too close for comfort, deciding to act on its removal.

It's unclear what will happen to the gauntlets that players already have. Bungie has yet to say if they'll simply be removed entirely, or have the gauntlets reskinned so players don't feel cheated due to an oversight.