Ask HN: What is thick black row above top of header?

I just noticed HN now has a thick black row right above the header [1].

I don't mean any disrespect to dang or whoever designed it, but is this supposed to be a feature or a bug? :)

According to Internet Archive it was added earlier today; it wasn't there before [2]. Here's the html:

  <td bgcolor="#000000">
    <img src="s.gif" height="5" width="0">
  </td>

Personally I prefer the clean look from before, but respect if this is a new permanent design. I use a custom HN dark theme extension, so I can just adjust it to remove the row (unless it serves some other purpose; maybe counting visitors?)

[1] 2026-03-11 01:07 https://web.archive.org/web/20260311010735/https://news.ycombinator.com/

[2] 2026-03-10 05:34 https://web.archive.org/web/20260310053447/https://news.ycombinator.com/

3 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 19.6 ms ] thread

jonaslanglotz 4mo ago ↗

It's digital mourning stationery [1] in memory of Tony Hoare [2].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_stationery [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47324054

ljf 4mo ago ↗

The user who posted this seems banned, but their answer seems correct:

jonaslanglotz 2 minutes ago [dead] [–]

It's digital mourning stationery [1] in memory of Tony Hoare [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_stationery [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47324054

richardjam73 4mo ago ↗

Its used to indicate that someone of importance to the community has died.