With Christmas and Hanukkah behind us, it’s time to nominate the biggest brand holiday fail of 2014. While the most talked-about story this week had little to do with holidays of any kind, the season has had its share of brand mishaps, including one jaw-dropper from the unofficial king of festive greetings: Hallmark.

Earlier this month, retail giant Hallmark pushed out a wrapping paper for Hanukkah that, within its blue and white line pattern, contained a repeating swastika pattern. Of course, as soon as they found out, Hallmark had the rolls of paper removed from all Walgreen’s store shelves where it was being distributed. See the full story from the Kansas City Star where it first ran.

A message from a Hallmark representative stated that the gift wrap was created based on a design in the company’s archives that itself was based on an old Chinese vase. Before Hitler went and ruined all other uses of the symbol, the swastika design had been around for centuries. The earliest known uses date back to 10,000 BC in the Ukraine where it was carved onto a mammoth figure. Since then, the symbol has been used throughout many cultures and different time periods to represent everything including God, good luck, healing, auspiciousness, nobility, and now the nefarious Nazi Party. Below are some images of the symbol’s various appearances throughout history (images courtesy of Wikipedia).

Aside from the quick history lesson, the takeaway here is that designers love to appropriate historical patterns and references within their designs. But it is important to have an additional set of eyes (or two) to look over the work for gaffes before final approval and printing. As for this oversight, despite the quick and appropriate responses from both parties involved, we still award Hallmark with the biggest brand holiday fail of 2014. But don’t worry, the way brands behave on social media these days, the title won’t be theirs for long.