Traveller spots Aussie flag blunder at European airport
Many believed the error was indicative of the close relationship between the two countries.
With similar sounding accents and a close proximity to one another, there are many reasons why a foreigner may mistake Australia and New Zealand— with their almost identical flags also to blame for the confusion recently.
Large digital screens situated around Amsterdam airport in the Netherlands were spotted incorrectly identifying the two countries by each other's flag, and it's fair to say many online observers were tickled by the mistake when a traveller posted a picture online on Friday.
"That's because in the northern hemisphere everything is the other way round," one wrote, while another accused an airport worker of "goofing around" on shift.
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Both flags have a union jack in their top left corner and are made up of a primarily blue background with both having stars, however, their formation and colour differ from one flag to the next. New Zealand was wrongly matched with the southern cross and seven-pointed star belonging to Aussie's national flag, while they were matched with the red flags of its neighbouring country.
Potential risk of mistaking nation's flag with another
Although the majority of people took the flag error at Amsterdam airport well and said it "played on the Aus-NZ relationship", there is also the danger of insulting a country when this happens as flags are symbols for each nation.
In 2020 the New Zealand flag flying on Sydney's ANZAC bridge — a structure which commemorates soldiers from both countries who fought and died in World War I — had an incorrect star placement, with some deeming the error as disrespectful. Transport NSW quickly apologised and cited a manufacturing fault from the supplier for the issue before replacing it.
Another infamous example of two nations having their identify mistaken was during the London 2012 Olympic Games when the South Korean flag appeared alongside North Korea's women's soccer team on stadium screens. With the two countries having a long standing conflict, players left the pitch in protest.
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