The Army is warning a third-party company to stop putting Bible verses on replica dog tags or risk losing having the Army logo on its products.
The tags are made by Shields of Strength, a private faith-based company, and sold on military installations across the country, according to ABC 13.
Shields of Strength has had a trademark agreement with the Army for 20 years, giving it the ability to use Army logos for replica dog tags.
In recent months the company sold a replica tag featuring the 82nd Airborne Division logo accompanied by a Bible verse, with Joshua 1:9 inscribed on the back of the dog tag.
The Army’s trademark agency has taken issue with the inclusion of the verse, calling on the company to remove all biblical references from products featuring the licensed Army logo, according to the local news outlet.
The Army’s complaint to the company was reportedly at the urging of Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that describes itself as “dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.”
First Liberty Institute, a non-profit legal organization, is representing Shields of Strength in the dispute and sent a six-page response to the military asking it to rethink potentially pulling its logo over the company’s use of biblical references.