Hundreds of Muslims have taken part in a social media campaign that aims to reclaim the religious symbol hijacked by Islamic State, following calls to ban the display of the symbol in NSW.
The social media campaign #notyourseal is encouraging Muslims in Australia to reclaim the iconic black and white stamp by displaying a different version of it on their social media profiles.
The symbol, which has become linked with the extremist group IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, is an important symbol for all Muslims and dates back more than 1000 years after being created by the Prophet Muhammed.
Campaign founder Muhammad Zreika told a Sydney radio station the main purpose is to clarify the meaning and history of the symbol.
"The reason we started this campaign is purely to raise awareness and show people that we don't support terrorism," said Mr Zreika.
"It's a precious symbol for Muslims and for it to be associated with terrorist organisations is something that we wanted to avoid," he said.
"There is a lot of misconception and a lot of people associate terrorism with Islam. We are a humble group of people and we don't appreciate our image being spoilt by a minority."
Mr Zreika said the campaign changed the colour of the seal to green and white because it wouldn't offend people.
"Green is a very peaceful and humble colour and it doesn't look the same as the black and white version displayed on our TVs and in our newspapers."
Mr Zreika said the success of the campaign would be determined by whether or not the public was able to dissociate the symbol from IS.
"At the end of the day, if the symbol doesn't get banned or doesn't become a symbol associated with terrorism, then we've done our job," Mr Zreika said.
