Old image shared as Burj Khalifa lit up as Union Jack to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

The image has no relation with the Queen’s demise. The image dates back to 2017.

As social media users continue to mourn for the demise of Queen Elizabeth II,an image showing the Burj Khalifa lit up in the colour of the United Kindom’s flag is widely circulating on social media. Users claim that the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was lit up in the colour of the UK’s flag to pay tribute to  Queen Elizabeth II.

The caption of the post states, “The latest tribute to the passing of HM #QueenElizabeth at #BurjKhalifa#UAE”

Tweet Link | Archive Link

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Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by running a Google reverse image search whose results led us to the same image posted on Twitter on 23 May 2017. The caption of the tweet mentions, “Dubai stands in solidarity with the UK tonight. Brilliant from the Burj Khalifa. What a powerful message.”

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We found a news report by the BBC published on 24 May 2017. The report stated that several iconic landmarks around the world were illuminated in the colours of the union jack to show solidarity following the Manchester attack.Twenty-two people were killed and 64 injured when a suicide bomber attacked concertgoers at Manchester Arena. Images of major landmarks from around the world lit up in red, white and blue were shared on social media to pay tribute to the victims of the attack. The BBC had shared the image posted by ‘DubaiRams.’ 

At least 22 people, including children, were killed and 59 injured in a suicide bombing at a crowded pop concert in Manchester, which was the most deadly attack in Britain in a decade.

We found that the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi also lit up in the colours of the Union Jack in solidarity with the UK and the victims of Manchester‘s attack in 2017.

We also scanned through the official Twitter account of the Burj Khalifa and found that they had tweeted about lighting up the Burj Khalifa in the Brazilian flagcolor to celebrate Brazil’s Independence Day on 7th September. Later on 9th September they tweeted that they are going to celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival with an incredible show!

However, there was no mention of paying tribute to the Queen of England.

Thus, it is clear that the viral image dates back to 2017 when Burj Khalifa was lit up in the UK’s flag to show solidarity following the Manchester attack. It has no relation with the Queen’s recent demise.

When was the BurjKhalifa lit up in the Queen honour?

We found that the Burj Khalifa was lit up with the flag of the UK in honour of Queen Elizabeth II on her 94th birthday. The official Instagram account of the tower posted the image on 21 April 2020.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo has found the claim made along with the viral image to be False.The viral image dates back to 2017 when Burj Khalifa was lit up in the UK’s flag to show solidarity following the Manchester attack.The image has no relation to the Queen’s demise.