LONDON  The chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, whose record loss and near collapse made it a symbol of the financial crisis in Britain, called for an end to “public flogging” for past mistakes.

“We should bring to an end the public flogging and focus on the good and enduring people and businesses of R.B.S. and allow them to earn our way back to success,” the chairman, Philip Hampton, said Friday in a speech to shareholders at the annual meeting in Scotland.

“We have suffered a major financial hit and continued collateral damage from public criticism will compound the problem, not resolve it.”

Bank managers and especially the former chief executive, Fred Goodwin, attracted public anger for the ill-timed acquisition of the Dutch lender ABN Amro at the top of the market. That purchase reduced R.B.S.’s share price drastically and forced it to surrender a majority stake to the government.