Look: Thousands of Abu Dhabi students celebrate UAE Flag Day with police band, parades

At 11am on Thursday, people and institutions all across the emirate halted work to mark the event as the flag hoisting began

Published: Thu 3 Nov 2022, 6:40 PM

By
Ismail Sebugwaawo

Photos by Muhamad Riaz

The UAE celebrated its annual Flag Day on Thursday with schools, government bodies and workplaces across the country marking the occasion.

At 11am, people all over Abu Dhabi briefly stopped work to mark the event as flag hoisting took place at different institutions. The national celebration, which falls on November 3, is now in its 10th year.

At the event held at Abu Dhabi’s Qasr Al Watan, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, raised the country’s flag high as the national anthem played in the background.

Photo: WAM

"The UAE Flag will continue to flutter in the sky of glory and sovereignty, thanks to the vision and wisdom of the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the efforts of the UAE people", Sheikh Mansour said, "who stand behind the leadership of their country to remain a fortress of honour, a home of dignity, a beacon of pride and an oasis of peace and tolerance.”

He added: "On Flag Day, we recall our leadership's cohesion under the UAE flag, remembering the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Fathers of the nation and the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose great efforts and sacrifices led to our nation's development journey.”

Around 2,000 students took part in the Flag Day celebrations at Abu Dhabi Indian School, including the hoisting, and participated in multiple activities to celebrate the day.

“Students from kindergarten to Grade 2 learned about the importance of the UAE flag, while those in upper classes participated in Flag Day sports events,” Neeraj Bhargava, principal of Abu Dhabi Indian School told Khaleej Times.

At Al Basma British School, pupils and parents celebrated the UAE Flag Day with the Abu Dhabi Police Band accompanying the school flag day parade.

“The parents joined us to watch the parade. The live stream of the flag dedication assembly was shared with parents and our FS students on our Instagram page, @abbsalbasma, where lots of photographs and videos of the day's activities and events were also posted,” noted principal Allison McDonald.

“It was wonderful to have all of the children join together to celebrate the UAE Flag Day, and to see the children's enthusiasm for their country, their flag and their national anthem.”

Sara Awadh Issa Musallam, Minister of State for Early Education, Chairman of the Federal Agency of Early Education, and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge said: “On UAE Flag Day, we renew our commitment to preserving the heritage of our founding fathers and realise the vision of our wise leadership in building successful future generations.

“We remain committed to empowering every student, teacher, and parent to nurture their full potential and contribute to the success of our thriving nation”.

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