Google’s Memorial Day Tribute Sparks Anger, Comparison to Pride Month

For Memorial Day, Google’s homepage featured the company’s logo in a gray font with a simple American flag emblem below the search box, but the search engine’s quiet celebration of the holiday angered social media users on Monday.

Google often celebrates holidays and other important dates by amending its logo on its homepage for the day. When a user clicks the gray emblem that was displayed on Monday, the search engine directs the user to a search for Memorial Day with red poppies—a symbol often used for the holiday—adorning the bottom of the page. Social media users were infuriated by the Google Doodle, saying that it wasn’t respecting the day that honors the ultimate sacrifice that military men and women have made as much as it has celebrated Pride month, which members of the LGBTQ+ community celebrate in June, in the past.

Recently, some Americans have boycotted companies that have become involved in LGBTQ+ issues, including Bud Light after the beer brand partnered with transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney and Target after the retailer offered a collection of LGBTQ+ friendly clothing for Pride month.

Tweets flooded Twitter regarding Google’s Memorial Day display, with NewsMax anchor Eric Bolling calling it “sheer disrespect.”

“Hey @Google I know you’re feverishly getting a different pride logo ready for every day of June but I think you forgot that today is Memorial Day. You know… the holiday honoring the people who died for you to be able to celebrate Pride for a month. It’s still early. Fix it,” Twitter user @awakenedbarbie wrote.

Some users, like @Missus_Massacre, shared screenshots of what appeared to be the image a user saw after clicking the Google Doodle for Pride month in 2021. The logo redirected users to a page about Pride and had a shower of various Pride flags decorated the screen.

Newsweek reached out to Google by email for comment.

Other users, like @CfromChiTown, defended the doodle.

“To those of you complaining about the ‘lack’ of a Google doodle, today…Didja not notice the lettering is all gray? Didja bother to click on it?” they tweeted, alluding to how the user is redirected when they click on the lettering to a page about Memorial Day.

Last June, Google Doodle archives showed that there wasn’t a specific doodle celebrating Pride month, although on June 4, the Google Doodle honored Kiyoshi Kuromiya, who was a gay liberation activist. The elaborate doodle had a portrait of Kuromiya, a Pride flag, a telephone, a tree, an image of protestors and other components to the image.

Meanwhile on June 2, 2021, Google Doodle honored American astronomer, veteran, and gay rights activist Dr. Frank Kameny. Kameny’s doodle featured his portrait in front of a sky and trees, and he was wearing flowers around his neck.