NBC's Mike Tirico apologizes for misidentifying Martinique flag as Palestine on broadcast

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France's Mathias Lessort holds the flag of the French overseas department and region of Martinique after the men's basketball gold medal game between France and USA at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP) (DAMIEN MEYER via Getty Images)

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NBC broadcaster Mike Tirico issued a swift apology on social media for misidentifying a flag worn by France's Mathias Lessort during the men's basketball medal ceremony Saturday.

"Just acknowledging, as soon as possible, my error for misidentifying the Martinique flag as the flag of Palestine during the medal ceremony at Men’s Basketball today," Tirico wrote. "They are similar but obviously distinctly different, which is quite important for all involved. I apologize for the error and will correct on-air during our primetime show tonight."

Just acknowledging, as soon as possible, my error for misidentifying the Martinique flag as the flag of Palestine during the medal ceremony at Men’s Basketball today. They are similar but obviously distinctly different which is quite important for all involved.

I apologize…

— MikeTirico (@miketirico) August 10, 2024

The flag draped around Lessort's shoulders was for Martinique, an overseas territory of France located in the Caribbean Sea. However, Tirico said Lessort was wearing the Palestine flag during the NBC broadcast.

"You saw with Lessort, one of the backup centers, the Palestine flag draped over his shoulders," Tirico said, via Awful Announcing. "We are certainly conscious of any displays regarding the Middle East conflict from athletes involved in these games."

NBC #Olympics announcer, Mike Tirico, said this was a Palestine flag being displayed by French Olympic basketball player, Mathias Lessort, but it is actually the flag of Martinique - a territory of France… pic.twitter.com/0DwnEgjJUt

— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) August 10, 2024

Considering the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, it may have been natural to presume that some sort of political statement was being made. Yet the Martinique and Palestine flags also look quite similar with a red triangle on the left and thick stripes extending across the rest of the symbol.

The key difference is that the Palestinian flag has black, white and green rectangles, while Martinique has green and black rectangles.

Omg Mathias Lessort is wearing a flag from Martinique (the French territory where he was born) but Mike Tirico thinks it’s a Palestinian flag 😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/2NSnKLxteP

— kiara (@kiaradidwhat) August 10, 2024

Many pointed out Tirico's error on social media as soon as he said it during the telecast. The veteran broadcaster issued his apology within minutes of the mistake circulating online.

With such a charged political situation that's compelled deeply felt emotions and beliefs on both sides, some will surely continue to be upset about Tirico's mistake and criticize him for it. Yet he immediately took responsibility, took steps to admit his inaccuracy and apologized professionally in as public a setting as possible before NBC cameras in prime time.

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