Despite the expected context of this blog this is not about Personal Computers. It
about being Politically Correct...
Recently Microsoft has issued an update
to a Bookshelf Symbol 7 font. The font was found to contain "unacceptable
symbols". A
press-release with apologies has been promptly issued. The blame went to poor
oversight and artist mistake. Apparently what caused the whole thing was a presence
of two swasticas in the font.
A few things are worth mentioning:
-
The actual font file has a copyright of Ricoh Corp inside - it seems that it was licensed
from Ricoh
-
The swastika (or swastica) was borrowed
by Nazis from ancient India culture as an Arian symbol. Other cultures has also
embraced this symbol to some extend. Most notably in Buddhist countries, especially
in Japan, this symbol is associated with Good
Luck and Prosperity.
-
The swastika in the font was a part of a range of Japanese (Kanji) characters.
-
This character (or rather its mirror image is a sign used on maps in Japan to designate
the location of Shinto temples (can
be seen on Yahoo Maps)
-
Here are the screen shots of the font before and after:
Before: 
After: 