Members of the Rose City Riveters, the supporters’ group for the Portland Thorns, brought white roses and hung signs at Sunday’s game between the Thorns and Chicago Red Stars to protest a policy that bans the use of political signs and displays at games.

The ban was implemented by Major League Soccer at the start of the 2019 season, but the Timbers organization has enforced the ban at both Thorns and T2 games this year as well. Among the specific signage that is barred by MLS’s new fan code of conduct for being political is the “Iron Front” symbol, an emblem with three arrows pointing downward which was first used by an anti-Nazi paramilitary organization in Germany in the 1930s.

“Some have asked why the Timbers are enforcing an MLS rule at NWSL and USL games,” the Timbers organization said in a statement last Monday. “Neither league has a Supporter Code of Conduct. All of our operational staff for Providence Park games are the same. Having different rules for different teams creates confusion among staff and for fans alike. We also believe that what is allowed, for those wishing to trumpet opposition to fascism at MLS games, is also a fair and reasonable approach for Thorns and T2 games.”

The Timbers Army, the supporters’ group for the Portland Timbers, joined with fans of the Seattle Sounders to stage a protest against the ban at Friday’s game between the Timbers and Sounders. The fan groups protested the policy by not displaying their traditional tifos, large choreographed displays that fans raise before games, or engaging in "organized chants and songs, choreography, flag-waving, or playing of drums or trumpets” for the first 33 minutes of Friday’s nationally televised game.

While the Rose City Riveters didn’t have plans to stage a silent protest at Sunday’s game between the Thorns and Chicago, the group announced on social media that it would be bringing custom banners and white roses to the game to push back against the ban and the decision of the Timbers organization to enforce the policy at NWSL games.

The white roses were meant as a nod to the White Rose Resistance Group, an anti-fascist group led by students at the University of Munich that called for active opposition to the Nazis. Multiple banners were also hung in the north end of Providence Park Sunday to protest the ban against the Iron Front symbol and political signage at games. One banner said: “Silence=Complicity.” Another banner said: “Human rights are not political.” A third banner said: “If you’re not ANTI, you’re PRO. There is no middle ground.”

Despite the ban, a Thorns fan hung an Iron Front banner on the wall in the north end of Providence Park immediately after kickoff Sunday. Stadium security did not remove the banner.

While the new MLS code of conduct prohibits fans from holding up signs and displays with the Iron Front symbol, it does not prohibit supporters from wearing clothing with the icon. Fans are also not prohibited from displaying other signs that espouse anti-fascist, anti-racist or pro-immigrant messaging. The Timbers, along with several other clubs, worked directly with MLS to ensure that the new code of conduct didn’t prohibit those types of displays.

The Timbers and Sounders organizations reiterated their opposition to fascism by each creating custom pennants for Friday’s game between the Timbers and Sounders that included the phrases “anti-fascist" and “anti-racist." Timbers captain Diego Valeri and Sounders captain Nicolás Lodeiro exchanged the pennants prior to Friday’s match. The starting lineups from both teams then posed for a photo together with the pennants.

You may also see banners/two sticks in support of #AUnitedFront, as we stand in solidarity with Timbers Army and other SGs fighting against racism, fascism, and censorship in their stadiums.#BAONPDX#BAON pic.twitter.com/kzIL8rWXqK — Rose City Riveters (@PDXRivetersSG) August 25, 2019

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg

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