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How to change your Facebook profile photo to support the Brussels attack victims

The response echoes that to the Paris attacks late last year, when Facebook offered a French flag filter as a way of expressing sympathy with the victims

Wednesday 23 March 2016 09:05 GMT

The Eiffel tower is lit up with the Belgian flag colours of red, yellow and black on March 22, 2016 in Paris, France (AP)

Thousands of people are turning their Facebook profile photos black, yellow and red to support the victims of the deadly terror attacks in Belgium.

At least 30 people have died in explosions that hit the Brussels airport and Metro.

People are changing their photos to the Belgian flag as a way of expressing sympathy with the victims of those attacks. The response follows a similar movement after the Paris attacks, when Facebook offered the French flag filter within its own website.

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This time, Facebook isn’t offering an official filter. But adding one is still possible with third-party tools.

The easiest way to change your profile photo is to head to the Rainbow Filter website, which lets you add a huge range of pictures and flags onto the top of your profile photo, including the Belgian one.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack.

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack.

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek.

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March.

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels.

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris

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Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels

AP

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange

AP

Once there, you’ll just need to login and let the site have access to your profile photo. (After this is done, go back into your Facebook settings and remove the permissions that Rainbow Filter requires, just so that you’re safe in future.)

The site will grab your photo and put the filter over it, ready for you to add it to your Facebook, Twitter or other profile photo.

The Rainbow Filter site offers the option to have the site add the picture for you – but that also involves letting it post onto your wall. Far better is to click the option to download the image and upload it yourself, which has the added option of being able to take advantage of Facebook’s time-limited profile photos.

To add it, you can just head to your page and click on your profile photo. Click to change it, add any time limit if you want it, and then your page will be updated.

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