UK

People are selling ‘thank you NHS’ rainbow flags that definitely don’t resemble LGBT+ Pride flags at all. Not one bit

A few eBay merchants are flogging “rainbow thank you NHS flags” that maybe bear a minor or, well, complete and utter resemblance and totally are just LGBT+ Pride flags. (Stock photo via Pexels by Markus Spiske)

In the seemingly never-ending and surreal odyssey that is 2020, eBay merchants are flogging “rainbow thank you NHS flags” that kind of, perhaps, well, definitely look exactly like LGBT+ Pride flags. Yes, really.

As the coronavirus continues to paralyse Britain and the world, housebound families have encouraged children to doodle rainbows to hang in windows to motivate medics on their way to work.

The trend has been embraced across the world, but has prompted some backlash from anti-LGBT individuals and world leaders.

Many members of the LGBT+ community have noted the funny side of the rainbow being displayed in front windows up and down the country – especially now that eBay sellers have begun selling “thank you NHS flags” which look incredibly similar (read: identical) to Pride flags.

NHS becomes ‘National Homosexual Service’ after rainbow flag thanking frontline staffers goes viral. 

The rainbow NHS flag pictured in the viral tweet is being sold for £5.69, and according to its seller information is being shipped from Guanping County, China. More than 150 have been sold.

The “flag type”, the item’s listing says, is “Nhs [sic] Charity”.

Another eBay retailer, from Ireland, has sold more than 440 flags, where 20 per cent of the £6.99 price tag is donated to NHS Charities Together, its listing states.

Many of the product reviews are positive, with buyers noting it’s a “great flag supporting key workers”.

Its one solitary negative review simply states: “Advertised as NHS flag and labelled as Gay pride flag.”

Easy mistake to make, we imagine, as the rainbow NHS flag and the “Gay Pride flag” are two very distinct flags were an infinite list of differences, clearly.

Is the ‘rainbow thank you NHS flag’ real?

While there is no ‘official’ version of the flag, it is very much being listed across online marketplaces.

Some, but not all sellers, are including donations to charities that support the National Health Service.

Several “NHS Thank You” flags feature the healthcare service logo alongside motivational slogans, or slogans echoing government advice around hygiene and social distancing.

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