An online debate has seen Arsenal’s badge vanish entirely

Amid the debate surrounding Raheem Sterling’s gun tattoo there is a surprisingly entertaining thread about Arsenal’s badge.

The England winger has been at the centre of much discussion online due to an image of an assault rifle on his right leg, and two particularly at loggerheads over it are former footballer Gary Lineker and broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Morgan said the tattoo looked like Sterling was “glamourising gun use”, but Lineker later rebuked the Arsenal fan, the club’s badge has a picture of a cannon on it.

It was here where journalist Si Lloyd got involved.

With the help of Photoshop, Si edited the Gunners badge, removing the weaponry.

Seeing what Si was getting at, others then got involved to try and take things further.

One user pointed out the word “Arsenal” means “a collection of weapons”, so Si removed that too.

Another user then noted that the badge is in the shape of a shield – “which represents wars”.

Finally, left with nothing but a red circle, another Twitter user remarked that the badges scarlet hue is “the colour of blood”.

The remarkable joint effort drew many plaudits, including Lineker himself.

The Football Association has expressed its support for Sterling amid the scrutiny surrounding the tattoo, which he told fans on Instagram is in honour of his late father who died due to gun violence.

“We all support Raheem Sterling and acknowledge the honest and heartfelt account he gave via Instagram last night,” said a spokesperson.

“He and the rest of the squad are focused solely on preparing for the forthcoming World Cup.”