‘Sheikh Zayed didn’t know I designed UAE flag’: Emirati recalls meeting nation’s founding father

Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah met the UAE's Founding Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan several times — but he never introduced himself as the teenager who designed the national flag.

"He never asked me directly about the flag. But whenever I was in front of him, I felt great pride, knowing that he was the one who chose my design," Al Maainah told Khaleej Times.

"I was honoured when he raised the flag for the first time, declaring the establishment of the UAE on December 2, 1971."

The UAE Flag Day, celebrated on November 3 every year, has always been a special day for Al Maainah. He used to design jewellery but for him, the country's flag will always be "the most precious jewel" he has ever drawn.

"I do not remember the exact day I sat down and sketched the flag 49 years ago, but it was a day that put me in the history of the country," the Emirati said .

Al Maainah has been known in UAE history as the Emirati who, at 19 years old, had the proudest moment of his life as he watched his creation flutter in the sky, representing his beloved homeland.

But what some did not know was that after his historic achievement, he went on to serve the country’s diplomatic corps for 49 years. And with every conference and meeting he attended, checking the flag had become part of his routine. Was it in perfect condition? Was it raised properly? Was it in a proper position?

In his own way, he became the keeper of the UAE flag.

Nearly five decades of serving the diplomatic corps was an honour, he said, “but, still, nothing could ever be more precious than the moment I learnt it was my design that had been chosen to represent the UAE”.

The story behind the UAE flag

Nearly five decades ago, Al Maainah came across a newspaper advertisement, calling on all to join a nationwide flag design competition. Armed with simple tools and his talent for drawing, he got to work right away as there were only two days left before the deadline.

“I worked continuously for several hours, I did not sleep until dawn. When I finished, I put six designs in a special album. Then, the next morning, I immediately went to a post office and requested the employee to send the album to the address indicated in the ad,” he said.

“That was it, one of my six models won, becoming the sovereign flag of the Emirates until today.”

The UAE flag was first hoisted on December 2, 1971, when the union of the seven emirates was officially formed.

“When I saw the UAE’s Founding Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan on TV, raising the flag I designed, I was overjoyed. I started running quickly on my feet for half an hour towards the palace in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

“When I arrived, I stood next to the palace wall, and I proudly see the flag flying on the palace pole.”

Though he had already seen his flag design flying high in the country, Al Maainah still had to wait for an official announcement that he had actually won the competition.

“It took some time after the announcement of the Union before a member of the competition’s jury told me that the design I submitted had been chosen as the flag of the state. On that day, the staff coordinated with the authorities to hand me the award — which is a sum of money amounting to Dh4,000,” he said.

He was grateful for the prize, he said, but it could never be equal to that historical flag-raising moment.

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