What started as a fun online debate/activity about the 'real meaning' of various flags has some Irish people feeling deeply offended. Someone managed to interpret the Irish flag as being about booze, dependence on Britain, and a dearth of potatoes.
What's the symbolism behind the Irish flag? You can read all about that here.
But in a recent Bored Panda thread titled "People Hilariously Explain True Meaning Of Country Flags, And You May Not Like The Result," people did not in fact like the result when it came to the flag of Ireland.
Whatever eejit wrote it decided that for Irish flag in 1849 - at the height of the horror of Ireland's Great Hunger - the green stood for "Dependence on Britain," the orange stood for "Pubs," and the white was actually a blank space where the color blue should be, signifying "Potatoes" (or the lack of).
Read More: The real story of Ireland's Great Hunger
In the comment section, many people were furious:
"Hold the phone. There was a famine crisis because of the lack of potatoes and over a million people died and you're expecting people to laugh about this? You got this massively wrong, WTF Bored Panda?" wrote one commenter, Lee, who was in turn accused of not being able to take a joke. However, the comment was up-voted many times.
"UK: *conquers Ireland, forces Irish off their land, profits from near slave labor, starves millions to death* Uk: lol, you irish are soooooo dependent." wrote Phillip Rice, sarcastically.
Do you find this interpretation of the Irish flag ignorant and offensive? Or do you think it's all in good fun? Share your thoughts.
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