DUBAI // Social media users on Tuesday reacted with bemusement after noticing that Twitter was using the wrong flag to represent the UAE.
Using flags and hashtags for each participating country is part of the social-media platform’s aim to mark the start of the Cricket World Cup, but it left many online fans of the sport confused.
The tiny icon used shows a red triangle on the left side of the flag with black, green and white bars descending horizontally.
“Dear Twitter this is not the flag of #UAE, arrangement of colours is wrong and there is no triangle,” said one Twitter user.
Many were left utterly confused by the mishap.
“Em... What’s all this #UAE about? Last I checked that wasn’t what the Emirati flag looked live. Ever.” said one user.
“They messed up the flag so probably fixing it now,” said another.
“Someone tell #Twitter they completely messed up the #UAE flag here,” said one tweet urging people to contact Twitter to rectify the problem.
While another felt he had entered an alternate reality posting “Dear @twitter, in which parallel universe is this the #UAE flag?”
Others pointed out the similarities to other flags.
“It’s almost the Palestinian flag. Palestinian flag is black, green and white from top to bottom. This is literally the flag of Arab revolt,” tweeted a user.
The flag used by Twitter is believed to be the Flag of Arab Revolt used by Arab nationalists against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
The same flag was later used by the All-Palestine Government from 1948 to 1959.
The UAE flag, in contrast, has a red rectangle on the left side with green, white and black bars descending horizontally.
By Tuesday afternoon Twitter had suspended use of all the flags of participating countries.
The Cricket World Cup begins on Saturday and is taking place in Australia and New Zealand.
nhanif@thenational.ae
