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Tunisia to set Guinness world records for making largest flag

Xinhua, May 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Tunisia is to enter the Guinness book of world records for making the largest flag in the world.

Hundreds of Tunisians gathered on Saturday in the desert area of Ong Jemel, Southern Tunisia, for the event to reveal the giant flag.

According to the organizers, it took 80 km of fabric to make the 104,544 square meter flag, which weighed in at 12.6 tonnes.

Rania Guiza, spokesperson for the event, the initiative was launched by a textile industry businessperson back in 2012.

The suggestion was a reaction to the infamous flag incident at the Manouba campus, when a religious student took down the flag and pushed down the secular female student who attempted to stop him. Khaoula Rachidi was honored by the Tunisian president for standing up for the Tunisian flag.

Tunisian Ministry of Tourism has started to promote the flag event several weeks ago.

Salma Elloumi, tourism minister, said earlier that such a celebration would help to revive the country's tourism industry, which has been hit hard since the bloody terrorist attack against the Bardo Museum in March, leaving 21 tourists killed.

The world record will become official in the upcoming days. However, no aerial view was taken, as the organizers failed to obtain an official permission from the Tunisian authorities for drones or planes to film the flag, according to Guiza. Endit