The floor plan from the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference has spurred on a flurry of official statements.

With former President Donald Trump headlining the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) the event was never, ever going to be dull. But for once Trump’s antics didn’t take center stage, the actual stage took center stage. Eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the floor plan of the main stage at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Orlando, Florida, resembled an ancient Norse symbol Odal or Othala Rune used by the SS.

The firm that created the stage has insisted that the floor plan is a pure coincidence. The Maryland-based firm Design Foundry told forward.com it had: “had no idea that the design resembled any symbol, nor was there any intention to create something that did.” Design Foundry told the publication that they attempted to utilise the space “given the constraints of the ballroom and social distancing requirements”.

While the Hyatt Hotels Group who hosted the conference denied any involvement in the organization of the conference, writing in a statement “The CPAC 2021 event is hosted and managed by the American Conservative Union that manages all aspects of event logistics, including the stage design and aesthetics.” The statement added that the ACU leadership told the Hyatt Hotels Group that “any resemblance to a symbol of hate is unintentional.”

In a statement, CPAC organizers have called any link between the stage design and Nazi symbols “outrageous and slanderous.”

Adopted by Nazi Germany the Odal rune was part of their attempt to construct their mythic “Aryan” past. Used as a divisional insignia by the Waffen SS divisions during World War II, the insignia has been classified by The Anti-Defamation League as a hate symbol that has been adopted by White Supremacists in Europe and North America.

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