In the Guinness Book of Records, a wide variety of record achievements of human vanity are registered. Probably, the competition between countries, who has the highest flag in the world, is not an achievement that one can really be proud of. And partly related to the record for the fastest eating of hot dogs among people - it makes no sense and it is not clear why. In countries that built giant flagpoles, residents also reacted very differently to such a record.
Competitors
In the top ten countries in the ranking for the highest flag in the world are countries with a flagpole length of one hundred meters or more. Critics of the construction of such controversial symbols of statehood usually believe that they are measured by the height of the flag of a state with a predominantly authoritarian system of government.
Among them are 4 Turkic-speaking countries, with varying degrees of authoritarianism, from the post-Soviet space, including Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan (2 flags) and Kazakhstan. Also in the top twenty areKyrgyzstan, Latvia, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine with a flagpole length of 50 to 75 m. In Russia, the highest flag (50 m) is set in Volgograd.
The first places in the competition for the highest flag in the world are occupied by Saudi Arabia (170 m), Tajikistan (175 m) and Azerbaijan (162 m). Among these completely authoritarian countries, only an Arab state, rich and prosperous, can quite painlessly spend significant money on the construction of such a long flagpole. In the same Azerbaijan, the construction cost $35 million.
Flagpole War
The first, with a strong bid for long-term dominance, in the competition for the highest flag of the world was North Korea in the 80s, built a 160 m high flagpole in Kijeondong. This "propaganda village", as Western media resources call it, analogue of the Russian "Potemkin village", located in the demilitarized zone, on the border with South Korea and is the only settlement that is visible from the territory of the neighboring Korean state. The metal structure on which the national flag is installed, the Guinness Book refused to call the flagpole, because, according to their understanding, only an unsupported pole should be called that. The flag weighs 270 kg and requires 50 people to raise it.
The design was built up gradually in competition with the flag installed on the South Korean territory. Competition - how many meters in the highest flag in the world - on the Korean peninsula Western journalistscalled the war of the flagpoles. South Korea eventually built a 98.4m high flag in Daesong. Now it is the eleventh highest in the world.
Current record holder
Since 2013, Saudi Arabia has been the leader in this rather controversial ranking, setting its state symbol at a height of 170 m. The achievement is officially listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The area where the highest flag in the world is located is part of the national park of Jida, the largest city in the Mecca district.
A flagpole, which was made with 500 tons of steel, was installed in the center of the national emblem, in the form of an 85-meter palm tree and two 75-meter sabers, next to it there is a park area with 13 lights, according to the number of administrative entities of the country. The tip has a shahada, a symbol of the Muslim faith, with lines of Islamic dogmas. The photo of the highest flag in the world looks especially impressive in pictures from a fairly high altitude, when the whole area is visible in the general plan.
The cloth itself, almost 50 meters long and 33 meters wide, is equal in size to half a football field and weighs 570 kg. The total area of the national park is 26 thousand square meters. km.
The highest in the CIS
The grand opening of the second highest in the ranking of the highest flags in the world was held on August 23, 2011, in connection with the 20th anniversary of Tajikistan's independence. The flag is 3 meters higher than the one set a year earlier in Azerbaijan, and had the highest flagpole before the openingSaudi flag in Jeddah. Interestingly, the record flags in the former Soviet republics were erected by the same American company Trident Support. The construction was funded by a local aluminum company at an undisclosed cost. According to experts, at least 32 million US dollars were spent.
The height of the white flagpole is 165 meters. The dimensions of the flag were: width 30 and length 60 meters. The weight of the cloth is about 420 kg.
Now only the third one
The symbol of Azerbaijan's greatness has been the highest flag in the world for almost a year since September 2010. Installed on the State Flag Square in the capital of the country, on which the images of the anthem, flag and map of Azerbaijan are made in gilded bronze. A museum has also been created here in the form of an eight-pointed star, symbolizing the peoples who have lived on the territory of the state since ancient times.
The flagpole is 162 meters high and weighs 220 tons. The cloth was sewn in the size of 35 by 70 meters. The metal structure of the boom can withstand wind gusts of 60 m/s.
