The goalie for the American women's Olympic hockey team has been ordered to remove an image from the United States Constitution from her helmet.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) considers the image to be 'propoganda,' and forbids it.
Goalie Jessie Vetter has been told to remove the image, particularly the line "We the People," her name and the Olympic rings.
"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."
Yahoo Sports reports that Vetter will still have an image of the Statue of Liberty and the bald eagle on her helmet when she competes at the Sochi Games next month in Russia.
As SI.com points out in an article, this is not the first time American designs have run afoul of the committee's policies. In 2010, U.S. hockey goalies Ryan Miller and Jonathan Quick were told to remove slogans from their Olympic helmets.
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