How to Hang a UAE Flag the Right Way for Flag Day 2026 [Vertical Hanging Guide]

How to Hang the UAE Flag on Flag Day 2026?

In this guide you will find whether to hang the flag vertically or horizontally, how to do each one the right way, and the few things to keep in mind when you hang or raise it.

Should You Hang the UAE Flag Vertically or Horizontally?

Both are allowed, on Flag Day and all year. Which one is right depends on how your flag is mounted, not on the date. Most flags are put up in one of four ways:

The first row is the one you see in the Flag Day ceremony at offices and schools, where the flag is raised on a pole. The third row is the one for most homes and shop fronts. For a flag on a building, the official guideline of the UAE Government Media Office says it is hung "vertically with the red segment of the flag pointing upwards".

The official guidelines apply all year, and nothing in them limits the position on Flag Day. The call to raise the flag for Flag Day 2026 had not been published on 13 October 2026.

How to Hang the UAE Flag Vertically

To hang the UAE flag vertically, put the red band across the top and let the other three colours hang down below it. Here is what that looks like:

As you face the flag, black is on your left and green is on your right, with white between them. The official guideline's own words give only the red at the top. The black and green sides come from press reports of the government's flag guide, in Gulf News in 2025 and 2026 and in Khaleej Times in 2012, and they all agree. You can read the full UAE Flag and Official Portraits Guidelines for yourself.

The easy way to get there is to start from the normal flag and turn it. These steps work at a window, on a wall or on a balcony:

1. Check the flag before anything else. Open it out and look for tears, stains and faded colours. A flag with any of these should not go up.
2. Lay it flat the normal way. The red band is on your left, green is at the top, white is in the middle and black is at the bottom.
3. Turn it a quarter turn to the right. The red band moves from the left side to the top. Black is now on your left and green on your right.
4. Fix the red edge first. Tie or clip the top edge to the rail, bar or hooks in at least two places, so the red band stays straight across the top and does not slide to one side.
5. Let the rest hang free. The flag should hang flat and be able to move. Make sure the bottom edge is well clear of the ground, and that nothing covers it.
6. Look at it from where people will see it. Stand in the street or in the room, facing the flag. Red at the top, black on your left, green on your right. If green is on your left, the flag is back to front, so turn it over.

Step 6 is the one people skip. A flag on a balcony is seen from the street, not from your living room, so check it from the side that faces the public.

How to Hang the UAE Flag Horizontally

To hang the UAE flag horizontally, put the red band on the left of the person facing the flag, with green at the top, white in the middle and black at the bottom. This is the normal position, the one you see on every flagpole.

On a pole this happens by itself, as long as you tie the red edge to the rope. The care is needed when you pin the flag flat on a wall or behind a desk. Stand where people will stand and check two things: red on your left, green at the top. If black is at the top, the flag is upside down.

Things to Keep in Mind When You Hang or Raise the UAE Flag

Once the flag is the right way round, a few points of respect matter, and the first is to raise only a clean, undamaged flag. The official guideline says its standards are for individuals and private companies as well as government offices. These are the ones you need this month:

1. Look at your flag before Flag Day, not on the morning itself. The guideline says a worn, torn or faded flag must be replaced, however small the damage is.
2. Keep it off the ground. The flag is also not a cover, so do not spread it over a table, a car or a wall as a cloth.
3. The flag is always twice as wide as it is high. Do not stretch it or crop it to fit a space.
4. Next to other flags, the UAE flag is never lower than any of them, and it goes up first.
5. On a pole, raise it at a steady speed, all the way to the top, and secure it tightly.
6. Half-mast is only for national mourning, on a day that is officially declared.
7. An old flag is taken apart for recycling, so that the pieces no longer look like a flag. It is never burned. In the guideline's words: "Burning the flag must be avoided to preserve the environment."
8. Publicly and deliberately insulting or damaging the flag is a serious crime. Khaleej Times reported the penalty from the Public Prosecution as 10 to 25 years in prison and a fine of not less than AED 500,000. Nothing we read says an honest hanging mistake is punished.

So if your flag turns out to be the wrong way round, take it down, turn it and hang it again.

If you still need a flag, our guide on where to buy a UAE flag lists shops, prices and sizes. For the date and how the day is marked, see our main guide to UAE Flag Day 2026.