Some people noticed that US President Joe Biden had what seemed like a "bruise" on his forehead on Wednesday, with social media users swiftly offering many theories on its origin.
The "bruise" drew the attention of several users when the president was delivering his State of the Union address and when he was speaking to the press on Wednesday.
Several users suggested that it was an "old person bruise", while others wondered why "nothing has been said about that".
"Why is no one mentioning the big black bruise on President Biden's forehead?" one Twitter user asked, while another one wondered: "Did he face plant or did he walk into something?"
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© Photo : Twitter / @ridgebackpop
However, the explanation was quite simple: Biden, a Catholic, paid tribute to the tradition of Ash Wednesday - the day that kicks off Lent, when believers receive the sign of the cross on their heads in ashes.
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© Photo : Twitter / @GreenleeGazette
According to Catholic tradition, the ashes come from palms that were burned during the preceding year's Palm Sunday.
This is not the first time people suspect that Biden got hurt, while he was in fact following Catholic tradition. In 2010, UK reporter Kay Burley even had to apologise when she mistook the Ash Wednesday mark on then-Vice President Joe Biden’s forehead for "a large bruise".