·         100,000 car and stick flags supplied

·         4,000 flags installed around the capital city

Icon Middle East was awarded the contract by the Qatar National Day Celebrations Organising Committee to dress over 2,000 lampposts with the country's National Flag as part of their national day of celebration which took place on December 18^th.    This celebration, the first of its kind in the country involved a military parade, a sky diving demonstration, music and light show and a 20 minute firework spectacular.  The contract was awarded after Icon had initially been approached just to supply hand flags.

In conjunction with their international trading division, Icon Branding International (IBI), Icon supplied and installed over 4,000 flags on lampposts in Doha, 60 on flagpoles on the city roundabouts and 90 whiptail banners along the Corniche.  Icon also supplied the organising committee with 50,000 stick flags and 50,000 car flags which were then distributed to the public during the celebrations.  A further 230 flags and poles were supplied and installed by Icon at a number of private VIP event locations that were attended by His Highness The Emir.

Prior to the installation, which was carried out over two weeks, the Icon team undertook a detailed audit of each street and every lamppost that was to be decorated.  This detailed evaluation formed the basis of a comprehensive installation programme that helped to ensure that the project was completed within the tight timescale and on budget.  James Button, Project Manager for Icon, flew into Qatar specifically to oversee the contract and explains more.  “Doha is a busy capital city so dressing the street furniture could only take place at night when the roads were quieter.  Our team of installers overcame a number of delays including being stopped and quizzed by the police, and not least of all the onset of very high winds. However, our resourceful team managed to overcome these hurdles and complete all installations on time.”

Salman Al Qubaisi, National Day Celebrations committee member and member of the State Audit Bureau, said; “We are delighted with the impact that Icon's work has made to the national celebrations.  The presence of a professional and dedicated project manager who has been available throughout the entire process gave our committee complete peace of mind and meant that any problems were soon resolved.”

Icon Middle East is establishing itself as a key provider of city dressing and event signage for sporting events across the region.  This was the company's first Government-run project but other recent work includes contracts for the Qatar Stars Football League, World Snooker's Bahrain Championship and the Riffa Views Invitational Golf, also in Bahrain.