Yet another CC removes National Day banners but denies AI accusations

SINGAPORE: Pasir Ris-Changi Community Club has removed one of its National Day banners after members of the public spotted an error in the depiction of the Singapore flag, becoming the latest People’s Association-linked community organisation to face scrutiny over festive decorations this month.

The banner, which featured two children holding small Singapore flags, drew attention online after netizens noticed that the crescent moon and five stars on one of the flags were upside down, making the flag incorrect.

Questions were also raised over whether the image had been created using artificial intelligence, following recent controversy surrounding AI-generated National Day banners displayed elsewhere. However, Pasir Ris-Changi Town Council rejected those claims, stressing that AI had not been used in either the creation or editing of the banner.

According to the town council, the photographs used were genuine images submitted by residents as part of a National Day photography competition. The uploader of the images also shared the original photographs online, showing that the children had been holding correctly oriented Singapore flags before the pictures were edited for the final banner design.

In a statement, the town council acknowledged that the error was introduced during the design stage.

“The images we selected and edited were with the right Singapore flag orientation, but the outcome was not as expected,” it said.

Confirming that the banner had been taken down, the town council apologised for the mistake.

It explained that while preparing the final artwork, the national flag in the submitted photographs had been incorrectly modified, resulting in the reversed orientation.

“This should not have happened, and we take full responsibility for this oversight. We also want to clarify that no artificial intelligence was used to generate images during the production or editing of the vertical banner,” the statement said.

The town council added that it is reviewing its design and approval procedures, tightening quality control measures and implementing safeguards to prevent similar errors in future.

The incident comes just days after Kampong Chai Chee Community Club withdrew a series of National Day banners that were widely criticised for containing multiple inaccuracies. Those AI-generated banners included a Singapore flag missing its crescent moon and five stars, prompting widespread criticism online. The community club also came under fire after initially saying the artwork had been produced by senior volunteers.

Separately, another National Day poster has also attracted attention on social media after users noticed it referred to Singapore’s “61th birthday” instead of the correct “61st birthday”.

The latest mistakes have renewed public questions over the approval process for National Day publicity materials, with some netizens asking whether sufficient checks are being carried out before banners are displayed and whether public funds are being spent responsibly.