A video featuring a bird seemingly unfurling the Indian national flag in Kerala has taken the internet by storm. The footage, posted on August 17, has amassed over one million views on social media. The clip shows a group of people hoisting the flag during Independence Day celebrations. As the flag reaches the top of the pole and remains unfurled, a bird appears to fly towards it, prompting the flag to unfurl and drop flower petals.
Shilpa, the social media user who posted it, wrote in the caption, “Kerala-National Flag got stuck at the top while hoisting. A bird came from nowhere and unfurled it!!”.
Kerala – National Flag got stuck at the top while hoisting. A bird came from nowhere and unfurled it!! ✨ pic.twitter.com/lRFR2TeShK
— Shilpa (@shilpa_cn) August 16, 2024
The video quickly captured the public’s imagination, with many perceiving the bird’s actions as a form of divine intervention.
But a follow-up video that was posted in the comments shows the actual order of events. Shot from a different position, it is evident that the bird never approached the flagpole. Rather, it flew away after perching on a coconut leaf behind the flagpole. It’s made clear in this second video that the bird wasn’t directly involved in the flag unfolding.
Watch the second video here:
Let’s look from another view. pic.twitter.com/p3hIs6j3Kn
— ?Che_ಕೃಷ್ಣ???❤️ (@ChekrishnaCk) August 17, 2024
A similar conclusion was also shared by the X fact-checker team.
“Missing context: The crow sits on the coconut leaf, behind the flag post. Did not influence the flag opening at all. Watching at 0.25x speed reveals clearly,” the disclaimer read.
