In early June 2023, a message was widely diverged in social networks that instead of the flags of the UN members at the headquarters of the organization in New York, rainbow flags were hung. We checked whether this is so.

Photo with the signature that “the flags of 193 countries - members of the UN were replaced with LGBT flags”, the beginning spread In different languages on June 8. The image is visible skyscrapers and rainbow flags. At the same time, some users say that the photo was taken directly at the UN headquarters in New York, others-that the location place is located at the Rockefeller Center building, but the flags are replaced by the auspices of the UN. IN Telegram, according to TGSTAT, such publications were covered at least 1 million views, and one of the most popular Record In the channel “Zlai Pruf” (147,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), in which, in particular, on the basis of the picture and signatures for it of homosexuality, the UN Secretary General Antoniu Gutterisha is accused. Users also shared photography Facebook And "VKontakte". The plot also spread widely on the English -language Internet - so, one of Twitov The picture saw 2.4 million users of the social network.

The photograph itself illustrating popular messages is taken from "Wikipedia"And made back in 2019, when rainbow flags were first raised on the flagpole of the Rockefeller Center. The flags of the UN countries and the United States, usually surrounding the square in front of the building, have been replaced from time to time for several years for several years Flag Project. For example, within the framework of this initiative in 2022 in honor of the Earth Day On each of the flagpole, there was an environmentally friendly, biodegradable flag. On National Features of the USA on flagpole remain Only star-striped American flags.

Since 2019, every June in honor Month of pride (Pride Month) Rockefeller Center is decorated with rainbow flags. For the first time they were posted to commemorate the 50th anniversary Stonewell riotsthat laid the foundation for the active struggle for LGBT+rights.

At the same time, many users claim that the UN headquarters, also located in New York, is captured in the picture, although these are two different buildings that are not related to each other. It is also hardly possible to confuse them on the ground, since they are at a decent distance from each other. The UN has nothing to do with the initiative of the Rockefeller Center, which replaced the flags in front of the building with Rainbow.

As for the UN headquarters building, the only flags that adorn it is actually the flags of 193 member states. FACHECHERS FROM Reuters And AP In connection with the distribution of the picture, they sent requests to the UN and received official answers: it is not planned to replace state symbols with rainbow flags. However, in order to make sure that the UN building looks as usual, you can just see user publications Twitter or Instagram, equipped with appropriate marks.

Thus, the photograph that has become popular distorts and incompletely submitted information, shifting the accent from the initiative of the Rockefeller Center at the UN, and the statement that rainbow flags were decorated with the headquarters of the organization, in principle, false.

Photo on the cover: Phi, CC0, Via Wikimedia Commons