Whoops! Facebook Declares The Philippines At War

You’ve probably noticed Facebook utilizing special shareable graphic and banners to celebrate special days. Yesterday, the social media giant celebrated Independence Day in the Philippines. However, the celebratory graphic made one huge mistake.

According The Philippine Star, the graphic featured the country’s flag with an inverted color scheme (red on top and blue on bottom). There’s just one big problem. Philippine law states that the flag should only display that color configuration during times it is at war. During times of peace, the flag is displayed with blue on top and red on bottom.

Users were greeted to their News Feeds with the erroneous banner on Sunday, which bared the message, “Happy Independence Day! Here’s to all of the Philippines’ health, happiness and prosperity,” along with the option to share the banner with your followers.

Nakakagulat ang @facebook bakit mali ang Philippine Flag ????????? Happy Independence Day pic.twitter.com/5fQ4XqL1hz

— Keith ???? (@klenlue) June 12, 2016

Fortunately, many were quick to point out that the social media company had declared the Philippines at war.

Facebook says we're at war. Happy Independence Day, Philippines. May we truly be free. #Kalayaan2016 o #Kasarinlan pic.twitter.com/SktzRNSJMj

— Camille Conde (@Cam_Conde) June 12, 2016

As the complaints started to roll in, Facebook was made aware of the issue and issued an apology.

“This was unintentional, and we’re sorry,” the company said in a statement to The Philippine Star. “We care deeply about the community in the Philippines and, in an attempt to connect people on Independence Day, we made a mistake.”

May 28-June 12 are the Flag Days; all citizens are encouraged to fly the Philippine colors: https://t.co/O6r6YTjkPd pic.twitter.com/iSVHP4X67V

— Official Gazette PH (@govph) June 2, 2016

Of course, there were those critics who believe the gaffe was “subtle recognition” that the country really was at war. They were referring to the issue of territory that is currently in dispute over the West Philippine See and the country’s incoming administration’s issues.

Google also got in on the Independence Day fun, but they managed to post the correct flag. One win for Google Plus!