Dubai: The last two months of the year always see a rise in demand for flags and items carrying the UAE flag, and this year is no exception.
To express love and loyalty to the UAE, many citizens and expats are keen on celebrating two main annual occasions dear to the UAE, National Flag Day on November 3 and National Day on December 2.
Shops around the city begin to stock up on their inventory as early as October to cater to the demand for various sizes of the UAE flag and other items with the UAE flag colours, a Gulf News survey revealed.
UAE Flag Day, which falls on November 3, is an event which coincides with the anniversary of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s assumption of office as the leader of the country and is marked with the flag being hoisted across all government departments and buildings across the emirate. Flags will be hoisted across the country at 11am on Thursday.
The entire community, including schools and private companies, also take part in the event each year.
In areas like Dubai’s Al Satwa area, store owners begin to attract customers by hanging the UAE flags outside their stores. They also reserve a dedicated section for UAE flags, decorations and souvenirs inside.
“This is the time when we bring a lot of stock because customer demand for UAE flags and scarves goes up,” says an Indian salesman at a small store called Opportune Trading.
Dresses for women and kids carrying the UAE flag colours are hung from the ceiling and the demand for them is high too, he says.
“Even though there is a lot of competition around this area since many stores sell the same types of flags, we still get many customers. We have different sizes, starting from one metre to five metres, but the one metre flag at Dh10 has proved to be the most popular,” he said.
The flags are mostly made in China and then imported to the UAE, several shopkeepers have said.
A group of salesmen at a big department store in the same area said they receive customers from diverse nationalities for the UAE flags and other items celebrating the occasion, such as balloons, medals, T-shirts and scarves.
“Many of our customers of UAE flags in the last few days have been restaurants and schools. We have displayed more than 30 different models to make sure the customer has a variety to choose from,” said the salesmen at Gift Garden.
Depending on the size of the UAE flags, mostly made of polyester, they can cost as little as Dh2 for a postcard-sized flag to around Dh200 for a 20 metre flag. The larger flags are usually hung on the façade of buildings, and are much bigger in length than they are in width.
“It becomes really busy after 5pm for the flags,” another salesman at Gift Garden said.
An Emirati customer, who entered the same department store, was heard asking for a 10 metre flag.
“I’m in a hurry, but I came to buy a flag so I can decorate my home and mark Flag Day,” he said.
At Classic City, also in the same area, a salesman at the department store said they are expecting a surge of customers starting on November 3. “Our usual customers for the flags are mainly Indians and Arabs.”
A Filipino customer exiting another store was spotted carrying a few of the postcard-sized flags. “I bought them for my children so they can raise them at school on Thursday. This is our home away from home and we feel happy to join the celebration.”
