The Exeter Chiefs board will meet on Wednesday to discuss a rebranding that could lead to the Premiership club removing their Native American badge and mascot, known as “Big Chief”. An Exeter supporters’ online petition has gathered more than 3,500 signatures, calling for an end to the club’s “harmful imagery and branding”. Two petitions have been launched arguing against any change Exeter adopted the Chiefs name and logo in 1999, although the nickname dates back to at least the 1930s. Concerns around the team’s appropriation of Native American imagery were first raised in 2016 when the historian Dr Rachel Herrmann claimed it evoked “Britain’s forgotten imperial American past”. The current Premiership leaders have a reserve team known as the Exeter Braves, while the “tomahawk chop”, a popular fan chant that has been used as walk-on music at Sandy Park, has also attracted criticism. In America, the NFL’s Washington side recently dropped their badge and Redskins branding, taking on the temporary new name of Washington Football Team for the coming season. The decision was welcomed by Ray Halbritter, an Oneida Nation representative, who said the change “closes a painful chapter of denigration and disrespect toward Native Americans and other people of color”. The current Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, have also come under fire for the use of Native American imagery and the “tomahawk chop” at Arrowhead Stadium. In baseball, the Cleveland Indians dropped their mascot in 2018 and have since indicated they are likely to change their name.