A post on social media from the National Hockey League (NHL) celebrating Thanksgiving has raised eyebrows online, after social media users saw what appears to be a Canadian flag placed underneath the American flag.
Newsweek has contacted a media representative for the NHL outside of regular working hours via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The NHL is a professional ice hockey league in North America, which is composed of 32 teams total: 25 in the U.S. and 7 in Canada. The social media post comes amid tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
Relations between the U.S. and Canada used to be amicable, and the countries had long served as major trading partners. However, since President Donald Trump began his second term, the relationship between the two countries has become strained over economic issues, and rhetoric were the president offered to turn Canada into a U.S. state.
What To Know
The Thanksgiving post was shared on X from the official NHL account. It read “Happy Thanksgiving to our NHL family in the United States!”
The post featured a graphic which had an ice background, printed with the words “Happy Thanksgiving from the NHL,” and had an object in each of the four corners. In the top left, there were leaves, in the top right, there was the NHL symbol, in the bottom right, there was the signature NHL plaid cotton fabric, and in the bottom left, there was an American flag.
Eagle-eyed social media users were quick to point out that underneath the American flag, there is a visible outline of the Canadian flag.
The post from the NHL has quickly garnered more than 8 million views on X, and social media users have flocked to the replies to point out the underlying flag.
One social media user, @YoHorvat, shared a post of the graphic used by the NHL for Canadian Thanksgiving this year, which fell on October 13. That graphic was the same and featured a Canadian flag in the bottom left, where the American flag is on the new graphic
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That social media user said that the NFL had “reused the graphic and whoever edited it didn’t completely get rid of the Canadian flag”.
Some people took offense to the graphic, while others thought it was funny.
What People Are Saying
Social media user @PizzaPal94, in a post on X viewed over 40,000 times: “Canadian flag hidden behind the USA [eyes emoji].”
Social media user @li_dente, in a post on X viewed over 16,000 times: “We see you, social media manager.”
Social media user @Frequenta******, in a post on X viewed over 20,000 times: “Why is there a Canadian flag behind our American flag? WTF @NHL???”
Social media user @queenfareeda, in a post on X viewed over 19,000 times: “The NHL intern knew they were stirring the pot with this one.”
What Happens Next?
The NHL has not publicly responded as of reporting.