St George’s Day: Facebook sends out bizarre message telling people to ‘let the spirit of England fill you with pride’

‘Happy St George’s Day,’ the message that’s written beneath a huge knight’s helmet reads, ‘Let the spirit of England fill you with pride today and every day’

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Facebook sent its users a strange message wishing them a happy St George’s Day – one day early.

The message, which appeared for many users of the service and now appears to have been removed, told people to let the “spirit of England fill [them] with pride today and every day”.

It was written beneath a picture showing a huge knight’s helmet standing next to a rose, and numerous people clambering around it. The picture featured at the top of the news feed, where Facebook regularly puts topical messages – including, earlier in the day, an accurately timed message about Earth Day.

“Happy St George’s Day,” the message read, along with the name of the person. “Let the spirit of England fill you with pride today and every day.”

It’s not clear whether the strange wording and picture will be the final release, when the message is presumably going to be pushed out on the actual St George’s Day.

Some pointed out that the wording of the message wasn’t necessarily fitting with the British spirit at the moment.

And still others said that Facebook had not simply sent the message out on thew wrong day – but to people of the wrong nationality.

St George’s Day is celebrated on 23 April.