The United States Military Academy at West Point announced on Tuesday that it would not punish 16 cadets who posed for a photograph last week with raised fists, saying the gesture was intended to show “unity” and “pride,” and did not violate Army regulations that prohibit engaging in partisan political activities while in uniform.

The photograph shows all but one of the black female seniors in the largest such group to ever graduate from West Point, wearing traditional gray uniforms with sabers and arranged on the steps of the public military academy’s oldest barracks — a tradition of generations of seniors.

Their version, with raised fists, fueled a storm of criticism as it circulated on social media. A number of current and former members of the military said the raised fists were an inappropriate and divisive sign of allegiance with the Black Lives Matter movement. Some called for the cadets’ punishment or dismissal.

But an Army inquiry concluded Tuesday that the women intended to demonstrate “unity, solidarity and pride,” and that while what they did was “inappropriate,” it did not violate regulations.