Google changed its Doogle Thursday, featuring a series of winter athletes set in rainbow colors, with a pointed quote from the Olympic Charter below Google's search bar.

The quote reads, "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

There have been protests about holding the games in Russia because of the country's anti-gay laws which bans information on homosexuality being given to anyone under 18.

Russia President Vladimir Putin has defended the policy, claiming that the gay law was not discriminatory but about protecting Russian children from dangerous information about homosexuality and paedophilia. He said homosexuality is legal in the country and gay people were welcome as long as they left children alone.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, used his speech to the International Olympic Committee on Thursday to offer support to the LGBT community, saying that "many professional athletes, gay and straight, are speaking out against prejudice."

A number of sponsors of the U.S. Olympic Committee, including AT&T, DeVry University and Chobani Yogurt, have condemned Russia's law and issued statements of support for gay rights.

Google and its founders are known as outspoken supporters of gay rights since 2008, when the tech company got involved in opposing the California's Proposition 8. In 2012 Google launched a "Legalise Love" Campaign that it described as a call to decriminalize homosexuality and eliminate homophobia around the world.