In early October 2009, there was controversy regarding the lack of the Indian flag as an available decoration on FarmVille; among several other national flags offered, the tricolour flag of India was missing. This was first publicized in The Times of India and later spread to other media sources.[9] Some considered this absence an "insult" to the country,[2] and campaigns were launched in order to bring attention to the issue. By October 9, over 20,000 users added their name to a petition asking Zynga to add the flag.[2] This also caused other players to request that their national flags be added to the application.[2] On the following day, Zynga released a Twitter message which stated: "We celebrate the diversity of all of our players around the world. We're working on all sorts of flags to help you represent your pride."[9] On October 13, the Indian, the Philippine, and Portuguese flags were added to the game.