In fact, the problem for the newest right-wing radical party in the Netherlands started right away with the presentation of the logo. The party logo of The New Alliance of MP Gidi Markuszower consists of the letters DNA and a few dashes that can be interpreted as a double helix. But, the question arose at the press conference: does this reference to genetics suggest a “biological demarcation of Dutch people”?
It takes some thinking, but this is what the question means: the party says that it wants to stand up for ‘Dutch culture’, but if the logo consists of the two best-known characteristics of genetics, doesn’t the party seem to want to underline Dutch citizenship with biological arguments? Something like: ‘Those with the right DNA can stay, and those without must leave’?
Last week the question turned out to be the start of a short but insightful discussion about nature symbolism in Dutch politics. Markuszower himself rejected the biological association; According to him, the abbreviation DNA stands for “the soul of the country” and not for the DNA of people. Party coach Rita Verdonk said she was “nauseated” by the criticism of the logo and said that these types of comments always come “from the same corner”. But Free Netherlands saw “deeply racist undertones” in it, and de Volkskrant referred to its “unpleasant connotation.”
Exaggerated criticism? In the Netherlands it is not strange in itself to do ‘something with nature’ in your political logo without thinking deeply. In fact, nature has been performing remarkably well as a political logo for years. Less than a month ago, Progressive Netherlands presented its new logo with a green rose above its name. The PVV has a seagull, the BBB a cloverleaf, the Party for the Animals a butterfly, the SP has had a tomato for a few decades.
Logo of the PVV.
But at the same time, the political use of nature symbolism often causes problems. In the right-wing genre there was a riot in 2008 around the PVV seagull. According to historian Gjalt Zondergeld, it was very similar a seagull that the NSB used in 1941also in combination with the word freedom. The seagull is in itself a well-known symbol for freedom, but according to Zondergeld, it has been “contaminated by history” since the NSB.
From fist to heart
This turns out to be the big problem: nature serves in a political logo as a kind of objective underlining of the message, but that is by definition impossible. The meaning of a natural symbol changes as the social context changes. Not only the right but also the left is constantly confronted with a new interpretation of their own nature symbolism – and this is therefore continually refined over the years.
At first glance, PRO’s new logo looks like a green version of the old red rose of the PvdA, but there is a significant shift behind it. The red rose of the PvdA has been the logo of the former social democratic party in various variants since 1946: the flower stood for humanity, the red for socialism, and in the latest version a stylized clenched fist – which until 1991 was still slightly lower – was drawn in the middle of the rose, as a symbol of the labor movement.
Party leader Jesse Klaver during the launch of the new party name Progressive Netherlands.
Photo Robin Utrecht/ ANP
The new green rose from PRO is slightly different. Instead of the fist, the rose has a lovely heart in the middle, and the green rose petals look unmistakably rounder than the sharp shapes of the last PvdA rose. These are minor adjustments, but they have a major effect. Round wins over sharp, the heart of the fist, the sustainability of socialism; Symbolically, the new party seems to be closer to the metropolitan oat milk drinker than to the old dock worker. According to critics, the party now breathes the atmosphere of a garden center“.
And the SP’s tomato? It seems insensitive to all those changing fashions, but the message has also been very consciously refined. The tomato dates from the time when throwing tomatoes was still seen as an act of heroic left-wing protest, and was chosen as the SP logo in 1994 “because the tomato is packed with healthy vitamins but is also a formidable weapon of protest against bad political scenes,” according to is on their website. But in 2006, the movement bars disappeared, and with a stationary tomato only the vitamins remained: throwing away food is considered in the left-wing circles of the 21ste century is apparently no longer as welcomed as it used to be.
Logo of the SP.
Jeans advertisement
Seagulls, roses and tomatoes are already sensitive, so what about a double helix? Biology and politics have by definition been a charged combination since 1945, and you would have to live far away from current events not to know that genetics has again been the subject of heated political debate in the past year. In the summer of 2025, American Eagle’s jeans advertisement received international criticism for weeks because actress Sydney Sweeney said in it: “I have great jeans” – where, according to her critics, “jeans” also means “genes” [genen] could be interpreted as meaning that the blonde, blue-eyed actress would appeal to right-wing purity ideologies.
It has never become clear whether Sweeney really meant it that way – but the discussions then showed again: nature is never just nature, but always also has a cultural meaning. You can “dismiss” these types of associations, but it is at least useful to know that they exist – especially if a party presents a new logo.
