Google FAIL: celebrates St David's Day with 'English' castle

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stdavids10-hp.gifNot been a good week for Google what with shenanigans in Italy and run-ins with Microsoft. And it has just got a lot worse.

Check out the Google home page today and you’ll see an image of a castle flying the Welsh flag. This is to celebrate St David’s Day which is of course today.

However the castle they have chosen looks remarkably like Caernarfon Castle. Which is fine, except that the castle was built by an English king, Edward 1st to celebrate his conquest of Gwynedd (and indeed much of Wales) in 1283. Not really much of a symbol of Welshness is it? Much more of a symbol of the relationship between the two countries and the domination one has had over the other for centuries.

So what has Google got planned for St Patrick’s Day? A nice big image of Oliver Cromwell?

Cheers to @simonhill for the spot

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3 comments

  • Cheers for the comment Michael. Maybe FAIL was a little OTT, but there are a lot of angry people on Twitter. Then again as you say

    Welsh national pride comes in many flavours and varieties.

    thanks for the post

  • Right… but the castle is now controlled by the Welsh government heritage agency, CADW, and is widely recognised as an important symbol of Welsh history. So it’s not quite so egregious or clear an error as you make out.

    Indeed Welsh national pride comes in many flavours and varieties. Many Welsh people, myself included, have both English and Celtic roots. Screaming “FAIL” like this is a bit one-dimensional, as not all Welsh people still carry this grudge after 800 years.

    Saying all that I agree Google probably should have just used a picture of a dragon instead. Giant mythical reptiles are fail-safe.

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