Facebook in a flutter over St Andrew’s Day flags

Scottish Facebook users were left baffled when the social networking site offered them the chance to mark St Andrew’s Day on their profile – with the flag of Romania.

The Scottish Saltire – Facebook gets its flags in a flutter. Image by Martin Abegglen / CC BY-SA 2.0

St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and Romania – as well as other countries including Greece and Poland. But some users in Scotland shared their frustration on Twitter, saying they were only given the option of the blue, yellow and red Romanian flag instead of the blue and white Saltire. The problem seemed to be fixed later on Monday, with an option to share Scotland’s national flag made available.

Romania’s flag. Image by andreistroe / CC BY 2.0

One Facebook user in Scotland posted on Twitter: “For some reason if you share the “happy St Andrew’s day” thing on Facebook it comes up with a Romanian flag? Eh?”

Another confused Scot wrote: “Can anyone tell me what tricolour flag is coming up on @facebook’s St Andrews Day greeting. Certainly not Scotland’s (or Russia).” But later, Laura Lambert tweeted: “After lots of criticism this morning Facebook has replaced Romanian flag with a saltire for St Andrew’s Day statuses #betterlatethannever.”

(Press Association)