No, Biden did not ban religious symbols from a White House Easter egg design contest

Viral posts shared ahead of Easter Sunday on March 31, 2024, claimed President Joe Biden banned religious symbols from a White House Easter egg design contest. 

VERIFY previously fact-checked claims that Biden declared Easter as Transgender Day of Visibility and found they were false. 

In a post on X, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem wrote that the president “banned ‘religious themed’ eggs at the White House’s Easter egg design contest for kids.” 

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy made a similar claim, writing that the White House was “banning any religious symbolism on Easter eggs.”

THE QUESTION

Did Biden ban religious symbols from the White House Easter egg design contest?

THE SOURCES

• Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board
• Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for First Lady Jill Biden
• Flyer calling for children’s submissions for 2024 Easter egg design contest
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines for checkoff programs

THE ANSWER

No, Biden did not ban religious symbols from a White House Easter egg design contest. These rules have been in place for 45 years. 

WHAT WE FOUND

The White House is home to many Easter traditions, including an annual egg roll and the presentation of a commemorative egg to the First Lady.

This year, children of National Guard families also submitted egg designs for a White House exhibit organized in collaboration with the American Egg Board. 

It’s true that children were not allowed to submit Easter egg designs with religious symbols. But the Biden administration did not make these rules; they have been in place for the last 45 years. 

The false claims stem from stories published by news outlets such as Fox News and the New York Post about a flyer calling for design submissions in the Easter egg art contest. 

The guidelines on that flyer say submissions should not include “religious symbols” or “overtly religious themes.”

But that language isn’t new, American Egg Board President and CEO Emily Metz confirmed to VERIFY.

“The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for over 45 years and the guideline language referenced in recent news reports has consistently applied to the board since its founding, across administrations,” Metz said in a statement. 

Elizabeth Alexander, First Lady Jill Biden’s communications director, also said on X that “the American Egg Board flyer’s standard non-discrimination language requesting artwork has been used for the last 45 years” across all Democratic and Republican administrations for all White House Easter Egg Rolls. 

The American Egg Board, which was established under federal law in 1976, is one of at least 21 government-sponsored programs that promote commodities produced by the U.S. agricultural industry. 

These programs are “required to operate within federal guidelines,” which prohibit religious discrimination, Metz said.

This story is also available in Spanish / Lee este artículo también en español: No, Biden no prohibió símbolos religiosos en un concurso de huevos de Pascua en la Casa Blanca