AMMAN — Jordan’s nomination for the Guinness World Records
with the longest hanging flag in the world was approved on Saturday. The flag
was raised on Friday, which marked the National Flag Day, part of the Kingdom’s
celebrations of the centenary of Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
The flag is around 6m high and 2,132m wide, with
a total surface area of 12,792 sq.m, covering an area of around 2km of the Abdoun corridor on 60th Road.
The GAM used a drone to document the raising of the flag,
with the footage being watched live at the offices of Guinness World Records in
Dubai.
The flag’s width signals the centenary of the Jordanian
state and the anniversary of King Abdullah I’s arrival to Amman on the 2nd of
March 1921, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) said in a tweet on its official
Twitter page.
The flag is now being permanently displayed at the “See
Amman” Gallery in City Hall, the GAM added in another tweet.
Omar Ayasrah, a member of the moral guidance, media, and
culture committee at the Lower House told Jordan News in an interview over the
phone that he has mixed feelings about the event.
“We are proud of our flag. But we also understand the
criticism towards [the event] from some, as the national timing doesn’t require
this kind of parade,” he said.
Ayasrah elaborated that the money allocated to the event
could have been used to help unemployed youth instead.
The event drew mixed reactions on social media, with many
responding critically to what they deemed an expensive venture considering the
current conditions of a soaring unemployment rate and a national economy
battered by the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“How much did it cost? And what’s the benefit?” one tweet
read.
“Did you see where the flag disappeared to? Tens of
thousands of Jordanian Dinars, even hundreds spent unduly so the flags could be
put into storage. Aren’t the poor more deserving of this money?” another user
asked in a tweet.
Other angry tweets took aim at a more technical issue,
claiming that the flag opposes the Jordanian Constitution, which states that
the Jordanian flag should be twice as long as its width.
“Article 4 of the Jordanian Constitution determines the
measurements of the Jordanian flag where its ‘length is twice its width’. If we
want to be accurate, what the Greater Amman Municipality raised does not
represent Jordan’s flag, according to the Constitution,” Hazem Zureiqat, a
transportation expert at Engicon, tweeted.
Some, however, celebrated the event as a great achievement
for the Kingdom.
“A huge achievement recorded. Wishing you well,” one comment
on the GAM Facebook page said.
“Good luck and constant success,” another comment read.
GAM were unavailable for comment, despites several attempts
by
Jordan News.
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