May the 4th be with you

Star Wars fans across the world are celebrated an unofficial holiday on Wednesday.

May the 4th is recognized by die-hard Star Wars fans as a day to celebrate the iconic films.

The trend took off in 2005 when a German television station interviewed Star Wars creator George Lucas and asked him to say the famous phrase, "May the force be with you". A translator read it in German. "Am 4. Mai sind wir bei Ihnen", or "We shall be with you on May 4."

The pun is especially popular online, with social media users adopting the phrase for Facebook status updates.

On Twitter, the hashtags #StarWarsDay and #MayThe4thBeWithYou were also trending.

The original Star Wars film was released in 1977.