The UAE Flag Day, marked on November 3, is an occasion to celebrate not just the country’s rich past, but also its pulsating present and visionary future. Every year, this red letter day helps renew the national spirit and reflect on the UAE’s phenomenal success story. This time round, there’s an added sense of pride and joy with a national project being announced a day earlier to create a unique UAE nation brand.
As His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, launched the project, the underlying idea was to share the country’s inspiring story with the world.
The 49 Emirati artists and innovators who will be chosen from across the seven emirates to help design the nation brand logo have the opportunity of a life time awaiting them: of showcasing the UAE’s exceptional story through a powerful icon.
The new nation brand, according to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, will reflect the UAE’s successful experience as a country with ambitions, dreams and limitless aspirations. It will also represent the historic, cultural, humanitarian and economic values of the UAE and its people.
The 49 Emirati artists and innovators who will be chosen from across the seven emirates to help design the nation brand logo have the opportunity of a life time awaiting them: of showcasing the UAE’s exceptional story through a powerful icon.
The brief for these artists, designers, painters, sculptors, calligraphers, authors, researchers and graphic designers was to come together in teams to brainstorm and arrive at an innovative logo that captures the essence of the UAE as a success story of constant development.
The visual identity of a country is a signpost of its unique values – who doesn’t recall the powerful portrayal of Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK through their brand identities? But these countries took dozens of decades or even centuries to establish the story of their brand – and that’s what sets the UAE apart. The announcement for the brand identity comes even as the UAE as a country is two years away from turning 50!
Even as much of the world gets increasingly caught in sectarian strife and bitter racial divide, the UAE has quietly but firmly demonstrated through the past decades the power of a peacefully co-existing multi-cultural society and the opportunities it can unlock: a hub for innovation and global trade, a global connector of minds and flight paths, and a place that consciously fosters happiness.
The goal for the nation brand now is to position the country as a credible, influential soft power, a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship, a model of wise leadership, openness, tolerance and generosity, a source of inspiration to communities across the world and a driver of positive change to serve humanity. All of this, while building national pride within the UAE society by establishing social unity and representing an emphatic Emirati identity.