ESMA carries out awareness campaign on UAE flag standards

The Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, ESMA, has launched a public awareness campaign on the proper standards which should be followed when displaying the UAE flag.

The campaign, which coincides with the preparations for the celebration of the UAE’s Flag Day, observed on Thursday, 2nd November, has been launched on ESMA’s social media platforms to raise awareness of public and private institutions and individuals wishing to hoist the UAE flag on their facilities, including public and private buildings.

The UAE Cabinet has approved the mandatory standard that bears ‘UAE 1971’ on the UAE flag (the flag of the Union), where the standard number 1971 refers to the year of the Union. This standard has been issued by ESMA in an effort to standardise the necessary technical requirements for all entities that hoist the flag on its facilities and buildings.

Engineer Khalaf Khalaf, Director of the Standards Department at ESMA, affirmed that the authority is co-ordinating with local authorities concerned with inspection agencies in each emirate to implement this standard, as issued by the UAE Cabinet to ensure the unification of the general image of the country's flag.

The UAE flag, whether produced locally or imported, should be subjected to specific methods of testing of the textile structure, measurements of lengths and dimensions, and consistency of the colour of textiles when exposed to water, light or heat, he added.

''The UAE standard specifies the requirements of the UAE flag, a mandatory list, which includes specific colour grades used in the four colours that make up the flag, approved main measurements, textiles used in manufacturing, and respect for weather, temperature and humidity," he said.

The standard also includes the quality of the textiles used and their observance of climatic conditions in any country where the flag of the UAE is raised, such as diplomatic and consular buildings, enterprises, companies and others.

For temporary facilities, such as celebrations or festivals, ordinary nylon is used, he said, noting that the "minimum weight made of polyester material should not be less than 155 grams per square metre, and made of nylon and the weight should not be less than 122.5 grams per square metre.