Facebook celebrate Burns Night - with Union Jack emoji

FACEBOOK sparked outrage today after offering Scots a chance to post a celebratory Burns Night status update - with a Union Jack emoji.

The social networking site was slammed for opting to use the British flag to highlight the upcoming January festivities in honour of Scotland’s Bard, Robert Burns.

Users have the option to select an event from a list of “how you’re feeling” status options on their profile, Burns Night being one of them.

Some users of the social media platform have said they were ‘insulted’ by the gaffe with others starting online petitions to have the emoji changed to the Saltire.

Reasons cited in one petition to make the change included: “One of Robert Burns’s works is “Parcel o’ Rogues” which castigated the Scottish men who sold the freedom of Scotland for gold and created the United Kingdom.”

Facebook also found themselves in hot water in November after users cried foul of the site using a Romanian flag instead of the Saltire for St Andrew’s Day statuses.