UAE Flag Day: New Zealand – the first to raise the Emirati flag
Countries around the world have started celebrating Flag Day at 11am in their time zones
Dubai: UAE Embassies around the world celebrated Flag Day by carrying out a flag-hoisting ceremony in their respective time zones.
UAE Flag Day is marked on November 3 on Sunday, where schools, ministries, government bodies and institutions simultaneously raise the nation’s flag at 11am.
First marked in 2013 and normally celebrated on November 3, the UAE Flag Day marks the accession of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the office as President of the UAE in 2004.
It is a national occasion where people of the UAE remember the efforts of the founders of the country, Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid, and their brothers who sacrificed everything for the sake of their nation.
The occasion is not just limited to the UAE as embassies around the world held a special ceremony where they raised the flag and honoured the efforts of the founding fathers.
With a nine-hour time difference between the UAE and New Zealand, this means that the country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean celebrated Flag Day at 2am local time.
The UAE Embassy in Wellington shared the video of its flag-hoisting ceremony on its official Twitter account, marking a significant moment in time as it was the first UAE mission in the world to raise the flag.
“Members of the UAE mission in New Zealand reaffirm their loyalty to the beloved homeland, by raising the UAE flag high in New Zealand and in the Pacific region as the world celebrates Flag Day, which falls on November 3 each year,” said the UAE Embassy.
Several other UAE missions in the region to celebrate Flag Day included the embassy in Canberra, Australia, as well as the consulate in Melbourne.