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The RSA has condemned fashion designer Kate Sylvester's use of war medals in a fashion show called "Royally Screwed", but applauded her subsequent apology to veterans.
The Auckland designer created a storm across the Tasman yesterday when Australia's equivalent of the RSA, the Returned and Services League, said her use of the medals was "appalling and sickening".
Sylvester later issued an apology, saying she had not intended to insult veterans.
RSA national president Robin Klitscher said her apology should be applauded, but her use of the medals, which the newspaper said were "hanging over bare thighs", was unfortunate.
"There would be many veterans who would take offence at what she's done," he said.
"It's a great pity when that kind of symbolism is taken lightly, and I would have to say that a fashion show would be interpreted by most veterans as 'taken lightly'."
One of the medals used in the show was a New Zealand Operational Service Medal, which has been awarded to 19,000 veterans, military personnel and civilians who have served in extreme or hazardous conditions since the end of World War II.
Sylvester told the Herald yesterday that she had no intention of causing offence.
"We were working with royal regalia - we had tiaras, we had jewellery, we had sashes," she said.
"The medals were part of this look. We are really sorry."
Most medals were worn on the left side, which is the side meant to show the wearer has served in wartime.
Sylvester said the medals were replicas, and the show was not intended to have a military theme.
Later, she told the Runway Reporter fashion website she had bought the medals "by the fistful" from stores in New Zealand and Australia, and told the salespeople they would be worn in a fashion show.
"We were never questioned when we were buying them," Sylvester said.
"The significance of the medals didn't cross our radar.
"If we had known, we would have stuck to using the homemade ones made out of coins and ribbon that we had also done for the show."
The RSA said war medals, whether they were real or replicas that could be mistaken for the genuine item, were protected under the Military Decorations and Distinctive Badges Act 1918 and the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981.
Said Mr Klitscher: "They symbolise commitment, they symbolise duty in the face of the enemy, and they symbolise commitment to duty not found in the civilian population, but only in the military."
