THE ITEM on Blue Peter, the BBC children’s programme, appeared innocuous. The presenter, a former beauty queen, chose her favourite symbol for a “best of British” logo to be used by an airline.

But Zoe Salmon, who became the show’s 30th presenter last month, comes from Northern Ireland and her choice was the red hand of Ulster, a symbol regularly used by loyalists and paramilitaries.

Then, the following week, she picked out a picture from a paint-a-plane competition: it was a map of the British Isles, including the Republic of Ireland, covered by the Union Jack.

Though a law graduate, the 24-year-old former Miss Northern Ireland had waded unwittingly into a sectarian row.

David Miller, a professor of sociology at Strathclyde University, was among the first to complain to the BBC about the use of the symbol associated with loyalist paramilitaries such as the Red Hand Commandos and Red Hand Defenders.

“Like the swastika, the red hand is a symbol that has been misappropriated. It is the symbol of the unionists and is certainly not signed up to by the majority,” said Miller.

Yesterday he was joined by politicians in Northern Ireland. Patsy McGlone, SDLP assembly member for Mid Ulster, said: “I would not have been that upset about the reference to the red hand on its own. The most offensive bit for me was the Union Jack superimposed on the image of Ireland. Zoe Salmon should been more than aware of the sensitivity surrounding that.”

Traditionally, the red hand is the symbol of Ulster and refers to an ancient Irish legend in which the king promised land to the winner of a race to touch the shore of Ireland first.

Michael Copeland, an Ulster Unionist party assembly member, described the row as “political correctness gone mad”. “The red hand symbol is as precious to all Ulstermen as the lion is to Scotland and the dragon to Wales,” he said. “It appears in the symbolism of both the unionist and nationalist communities.”

This weekend Priscilla, Salmon’s mother, said there had not been a political motive behind her daughter’s broadcasts. “We are very moderate, we are not extremists at all,” she said. “We don’t have a loyalist background. We are completely above all that.”

Speaking from the family home in Bangor she said Zoe had decided to use the symbol after a phone conversation with her father Joe days before the programme was aired.

“It was he who just threw it out,” she said. “She actually thought about using the Giant’s Causeway or something like that. If she had spoken to me I would have just said something that is not going to stir up anything.

“My husband thought it was historical and didn’t think. It is our history, our heritage. It is nothing to do with politics. People are ignorant who think that they — unionists — invented the red hand of Ulster. But if they looked back at their history books they would know that.”

The BBC has sent apologies to viewers who complained. In the letters, Anne Gilchrist, head of entertainment, admits that the choice of the red hand had been “inappropriate and mistaken”.

“We can assure you that the symbol was used in good faith,” she added, “and it certainly wasn’t our intention to promote sectarianism.”

When Salmon was picked for the presenter’s role last year, it was suggested she had been chosen to “sex up” the programme and boost ratings in the competitive children’s marketplace. It is an idea denied by the producers of Blue Peter.

Asked her ambitions after taking the job, she revealed: “I want to travel, meet people, work with children, and make replicas of Tracey Island from sticky-back plastic and used toilet rolls.”

However, despite the attempts of the programme makers — the show is watched regularly by an audience of about 600,000 — to convey its presenters in a wholesome light, it has not prevented many from hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Although Salmon was unavailable for comment, the show’s producers said she would continue as a presenter.

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