Members of a Mobile Mardi Gras organization known as the Order of Isis have decided to start going by their initials for the upcoming parade season, after members said they were repeatedly stopped in public and questioned about the name’s overlap with the militant group that had recently seized territory in Iraq and Syria.
The ladies’ society, which formed in 2008 and counts roughly 115 members, chose its name years ago as a nod to the Egyptian goddess associated with friendship and love. But as international news coverage of the Islamic State group intensified through the summer of 2014, members said the coincidence of names had gone from a curiosity to a real headache.
One member told a reporter she was cornered by a stranger at a Mobile-area Sam’s Club who peppered her with questions after spotting the group’s name on her shirt. She explained that she belonged to a local Mardi Gras organization, not anything connected to overseas violence, but she said the encounter left her rattled. Another member described a similar exchange at the doctor’s office where she works, saying colleagues and patients alike had started asking pointed questions about her clothing.
Leaders of the group said safety was the deciding factor. With Mardi Gras parade season approaching and members set to ride floats in front of large public crowds along the traditional Mobile parade routes, organizers did not want the name on banners, throws or costumes to invite hostility or confusion. Instead, the group will identify itself publicly by its acronym for the 2015 season, dropping the spelled-out name from float signage and promotional material while it waits for the news cycle to move past the Islamic State group’s rise.
The timing created a logistical wrinkle. Board members said the organization had already placed orders for some throws, footballs, cups and other parade novelties printed with the full name before the decision was made. Officials said there may still be time to adjust some of the remaining orders, but members who already received branded gear will be allowed to decide for themselves whether to use it during the parade.
Like many krewes that roll during Mobile’s Mardi Gras season, the Order of Isis has traditionally operated with a good deal of privacy, and members are usually not publicly identified by name. That norm held even as the group spoke about its decision, with members describing the public reaction to their organization’s name only on condition that they not be identified.
Organizers stressed that the change was meant to be temporary. They said members hope the acronym will only be necessary for a parade season or two, until public attention to the unrelated militant group’s name recedes and the krewe can return to using its full name without drawing stares or hostile questions.
For now, though, the group said its priority is making sure members feel safe while celebrating a tradition that predates the unrelated overseas conflict by generations, and that has long been part of the social fabric of Mobile’s Mardi Gras season.