‘When can I take down my rainbow profile picture without being a douche?’

Mark Zuckerburg has changed his profile picture back to normal. So, is it officially OK to do that now?

If you’re reading this, chances are you recently added a rainbow filter to your Facebook profile picture to make Facebook even more popular and rich Celebrate Pride.

Maybe the change made you feel hopeful, because now that the United States has recognised gay marriage, Australia can’t be far off.

Maybe you felt proud to publicly declare your allegiance, because solidarity, sister.

Maybe you felt pressured, because if everyone else is doing it, then you don’t want to be the jerk that doesn’t.

Maybe you just thought it looked pretty. (Really? C’mon.)

Either way, by now most of our profile pictures have mimicked a Lifesavers packet the gay pride flag for around three full days.

Ours at the Mamamia office certainly have – check them out: (post continues after gallery)

We celebrated the US Supreme Court’s decision that same-sex marriage is a Constitutional right. We kept the celebrations going through the annual pride parade in New York on the weekend.

But now, Pride is over in the US, and we’re left wondering when exactly is the PC time to change our fabulously filtered photos back to the norm without looking like big ol’ jerks?

Related: Stop complaining: There is power in the rainbow profile pictures.

Do we leave it there until Australia finally legalises gay marriage (which, at this glacial rate, could be a while)? Wait until friends start changing theirs back? Replace it as soon as we stumble across our next flattering selfie? What to do…?

In search of the answer, we looked to Mark Zuckerberg – Mr Facebook himself – for guidance. Old mate Z-berg, who makes something like 30 million bajillion dollars every 20 seconds, has been a loud and proud Celebrate Pride advocate. Even his dog, Beast, got into the spirit of things with this super-cool dog scrunchy.

But last night (our time), Zuck made the call that it was TIME. He changed his profile picture back to the old side-smiling-you-caught-me-off-guard-I-swear-it’s-not-posed photo.

M.Z. is a pretty cool guy. If he has reverted back, it must be OK.

So, basically, the answer is that you can take your rainbow filter off any time you want without being an arsehole.

Because you had it there in the first place.

How long will you leave your rainbow filter on? 

For more on marriage equality, try these articles:

The one beautiful paragraph that explains marriage equality perfectly.

A statement from the Mamamia Women’s Network about Marriage Equality.

18 arguments against gay marriage – and why they’re bollocks.

Tonight, we are one gigantic step closer to legalising gay marriage.