UAE National Day 2027 falls on Thursday 2 December 2027 — the 56th National Day — with Commemoration Day on 1 December. If you are budgeting now, the per-head numbers to plan against are AED 3.40 for an A5 desk flag, AED 6.00 for a pin badge, AED 6.40 for a rectangular metal badge, AED 8.60 for a metal flag badge and AED 14.80 for a flag scarf, all VAT included. A full giveaway set for an office lands between AED 10 and AED 25 per employee, and the serious client gifts start at AED 350.
This is the planning guide: what to order at each budget, how many of each item an office of a given size actually needs, and the deadline calendar that decides whether your gifts arrive before the long weekend or after it. (Planning for the 2 December 2026 season instead? Our UAE National Day 2026 guide covers that cycle.)
What National Day gifting is actually for
Three different jobs get bundled under "National Day gifts", and they need different budgets:
- Office decoration and staff participation — flags, badges, scarves. Volume items, AED 3–15 per head. Everyone gets one, nobody keeps it beyond December, and that is fine.
- Client giveaways — something branded that carries your logo alongside the national theme, usually AED 15–60. Handed out at events or couriered with a card.
- Senior and government-facing gifts — one or two dozen pieces with real weight to them. This is where a memento in a wooden base and acrylic case at AED 350 belongs.
Getting the split wrong is the most common budget mistake: companies spend AED 40 per head on 300 staff and then have nothing distinctive for the twelve people who matter most.
Real prices for National Day items (VAT included)
| Item | Spec | Pack | Price (AED) | Per piece | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAE Flags — A5 | A5 desk / handheld size | 50 | 170 | 3.40 | Desks, reception, events |
| UAE Flag Badges — Pin | Pin fitting | 50 | 300 | 6.00 | Whole-office giveaway |
| UAE Flag Metal Badges — Rectangle | Rectangular, without magnet | 50 | 320 | 6.40 | Uniformed / front-of-house staff |
| UAE Flag Metal Badges — Pin | Metal, pin fitting | 50 | 430 | 8.60 | Management, client-facing teams |
| UAE Falcon Badges with Magnet | Flat badge, magnetic fitting | 50 | 430 | 8.60 | No pin holes in suits or abayas |
| UAE Flag Scarf, Arabic writing, red & green tassel | Printed scarf | 50 | 740 | 14.80 | Events, parades, photos |
| UAE Flag Polyester Scarf with silver tassel | Polyester, silver tassel | 50 | 740 | 14.80 | Staff teams, group photos |
| UAE Flag 150 × 90 cm with 2 m pole | Knitted polyester, stitched, outdoor | 1 | 1,100 | 1,100 | Entrance, forecourt, stage |
| UAE Golden Dhow Memento, wooden base & acrylic case | Presentation memento | 50 | 17,500 | 350.00 | VIP and government-facing gifts |
The full range sits in the UAE National Day collection, and branded items that work alongside it are in the corporate gifts collection.
Three budgets, three shopping lists
AED 10 per head — the participation budget
One A5 flag (AED 3.40) and one pin badge (AED 6.00) comes to AED 9.40 per employee. For a 200-person company that is AED 1,880 and the whole office is visibly marking the day. Add one 150 × 90 cm flag with pole at AED 1,100 for the entrance if the building allows it.
AED 25 per head — the staff event budget
A flag scarf (AED 14.80) plus a metal flag badge (AED 8.60) is AED 23.40 and photographs far better than badges alone — which matters if the point of the exercise is content for your social channels. The falcon badge with a magnet at the same AED 8.60 is the better choice for teams wearing suits, formal abayas or anything you do not want to put a pin through.
AED 60+ per head — the client and VIP budget
Here you are pairing a national-theme item with something branded that survives December: a Maglite 5K magnetic wireless power bank at AED 48, a Moda 2pc gift set at AED 28, or a Firenze Luxeline 4pc set at AED 89. For the top twenty names on the list, the Golden Dhow memento in a wooden base and acrylic case at AED 350 per piece is the piece that gets kept on a shelf.
How many of each item to order
A rule that holds up well across UAE offices:
- Badges and flags — headcount plus 15%. Walk-ins, visitors, contractors and the people who lose theirs on day one all draw from the same box.
- Scarves — headcount of the people actually attending the event, plus 10%. Ordering one per employee when only 60% attend the majlis wastes the largest line item in the budget.
- Large flags — count your entrances, reception desks and stage positions, then add one spare. These are not a per-head item.
- VIP mementos — build the list by name before you order a quantity. Twenty named recipients is a plan; "around fifty for VIPs" is how AED 17,500 of stock ends up in a cupboard until next year.
Because badges, flags and scarves are supplied in packs of 50, round up to the next pack and keep the surplus — national-theme stock does not go out of date, and next December's team will be grateful.
The 2027 deadline calendar
National Day sits at the end of a very congested print season in the UAE, and the squeeze is predictable:
- By mid-September 2027 — budget approved, headcount confirmed, VIP list drafted. This is the point at which you still have every option open.
- By mid-October 2027 — artwork for anything with your logo on it approved. Anything bespoke, custom-coloured or in unusual quantities should be ordered here.
- By the first week of November 2027 — all stock items ordered. This is the practical cut-off: the two weeks before 2 December are the busiest of the UAE print year.
- Mid-November 2027 — goods in your office, so distribution, desk-dressing and event packing happen without pressure. With 1 and 2 December falling midweek in 2027, most companies hold their internal celebration in the last days of November.
Standard delivery across the UAE runs a few working days after artwork approval, and free within Dubai on orders over AED 800. In the last fortnight of November, treat every quoted lead time as the minimum rather than the expectation.
Design notes that keep you out of trouble
The UAE flag and national symbols carry rules, and the sensible position is conservative: keep the flag's proportions and colour order correct, never crop it or overprint a logo across it, and place your branding beside the national element rather than on top of it. Where a gift carries both, give the national design the dominant position.
For anything bilingual, supply Arabic as outlined vector text — Arabic letterforms break their joins when a file is opened on a machine without the font. Our Arabic and bilingual print design guide covers layout order and proofreading, and the print-ready artwork checklist covers bleed, resolution and colour.
Frequently asked questions
When is UAE National Day 2027?
2 December 2027 is the 56th UAE National Day, with Commemoration Day on 1 December. Both fall midweek in 2027, so most companies run their internal celebration in the final days of November.
What is the cheapest National Day giveaway that still looks good?
An A5 UAE flag at AED 3.40 per piece in packs of 50. For something people wear rather than put on a desk, a pin badge at AED 6.00 is the next step up.
Can National Day items carry our company logo?
Branded items can carry your logo alongside the national design, and that is the normal approach for client giveaways. Keep the national element dominant and the logo secondary — it reads better and avoids any question of altering the flag itself.
What is the minimum order quantity?
Flags, badges and scarves are supplied in packs of 50. Large flags with poles are ordered per piece, and mementos come in packs of 50 — so for a short VIP list, pair a small number of premium pieces with volume items from the same collection.
How late can we order and still get delivery before 2 December?
The first week of November is the realistic cut-off for a comfortable order. After mid-November you are competing with every other company in the country for the same production and delivery slots, and choices narrow to whatever is in stock.
Are these prices inclusive of VAT?
Yes — every price shown includes 5% VAT, and design support is included with every order.
Start the 2027 list now
Send your headcount, your event date and your VIP list, and we will come back with a three-tier quote and a production date that clears the end-of-November rush. Call or WhatsApp 0522100909 (+971 52 210 0909), or browse the UAE National Day collection and the corporate gifts collection to build the shortlist.
