GWENT Police’s decision to change their badge on social media ahead on this weekend’s Pride event has sparked a fierce online debate.

In the run up to Pride Cymru’s Big Weekend in Cardiff, which takes place over the August bank holiday, the force switched their traditional police badge for one that includes the colours of the Pride rainbow flag.

When they changed their Facebook profile picture, the notification attracted a torrent of abuse and criticism from some users.

Some users were incensed that Gwent Police were supporting the Pride event, and commented they should remain “impartial”.

Others asked why the force couldn’t change their badge to a more unifying symbol, such as “a poppy in recognition of our veterans”, or “the cross of our lord Jesus Christ.”

But every negative comment was seen off by more positive thinking social media users.

One posted: “All those complaining about the pride flag being everywhere at the moment, guess what? It’s pride month in the UK, hence the flag being shown everywhere. Good grief, people claiming to support the LGBT community but don’t seem to want to show it off. I honestly think this is an amazing job, especially since I know a lot of people are apprehensive about taking part in pride due to being targeted.”

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Another said: “What's with the angry responses? Surely promoting acceptance, inclusion and diversity are a good thing for our force to promote. We're in the 21st century for goodness sake not the dark ages!”

While one user summed it up by saying: “I think some of the comments on here clearly show why pride is so important.”

A spokesman for Gwent Police said: “We have temporarily changed our Force logo to include a rainbow in support of Pride Cymru this weekend.

“Across Gwent we have seen homophobic and transphobic hate crimes double over the past two years, and nationally, homophobic attacks sadly hit the headlines on a weekly basis.

“Our displaying of the flag is an indication of our support to the LGBTQ+ community and our commitment to values of inclusion, unity and progress which are shared by the vast majority of people, irrespective of background or identity.”

Pride Cymru’s Big Weekend takes place from August 24 to August 26 on the city hall lawns in Cardiff.

More information can be found at http://bigweekend.pridecymru.co.uk/