A proposed new Ukip logo likened to the black military cross associated with the German empire and later the Nazis is being considered by electoral authorities.

A previous application by Ukip, which was once led by Nigel Farage, was rejected last November after the Electoral Commission deemed it as offensive.

That application featured a black cross with a sword and a spear running through it. Ukip, which has increasingly shifted to the far right in recent years, has now submitted a new application which appears similar but is without the sword. It includes the word Ukip, with “The New Right” underneath.

Sunder Katwala, director of the British Future thinktank, said that the new logo appeared to be modelled on the iron cross used by Germany from 1871-1918, and then by Hitler’s Nazi regime from 1933-45.

He added: “The intended message may be about being crusaders. Ukip has a strong focus on Britain being a Christian land and specifically are campaigning to scrap the government funding protective security measures for mosques which have experienced hate crimes and attacks.”

The party, which continues to use the yellow pound sign on a purple background as its emblem, has focused in recent years on street protests. Activists took part in some of the demonstrations last summer outside hotels housing asylum seekers, although Ukip’s presence was not always welcomed by others on the same side.

Once a significant electoral force which won 24 seats in the 2014 European parliament election and 12.6% of the vote at the 2015 general election, the party’s electoral representation is now negligible.

It has one Kent county councillor, who defected from Reform UK, and a small number of parish and town councillors. The party’s website lists Neil Hamilton, the former Conservative MP, as its “honorary president”.

Nick Tenconi, a personal trainer who became Ukip’s leader last year, has been at the forefront of efforts to steer the party in an explicitly Christian nationalist direction.

“I will deploy the military in Britain to round up and deport the Islamists, illegals and the communists,” Tenconi told a Ukip gathering in October, in a message that continues to be pumped out on Ukip social media channels.

He is also the chief operating officer of Turning Point UK, the British offshoot of the conservative pressure group founded by the slain US activist Charlie Kirk. Turning Point UK has continued to have contact with the Conservative party, with Kemi Badenoch meeting some of its young activists after Kirk’s death.

Hope Not Hate (HNH), the anti-racism campaign group, warned that a green light for Ukip’s new application could see the symbol appearing on ballot papers.

“Just a few years ago the idea that a far-right party echoing Nazi-style imagery could end up on ballot papers was unthinkable, yet we know that the far right is growing and attempts are being made every day to normalise its policies,” said Joe Mulhall, HNH’s director of research.

“Ukip’s new logo signifies how the party has radicalised since the days of Farage. While always [a] rightwing party, under Tenconi’s leadership it has become an altogether more far-right organisation engaged in street politics.”

The Electoral Commission publishes names, descriptions and emblems which it is assessing. The public can contact the commission and say why they think the name, description or emblem does or does not meet the criteria for registration. Reasons for why emblems cannot be registered include being deemed as offensive, likely to mislead or because they use prohibited words.

The Electoral Commission and Tenconi have been approached for comment.