In the main hall of Zayed National Museum, performers stood in formation beneath the glass roof, rifles held across their chests, with a recreation of the Magan boat rising behind them.
Their daily appearances, alongside performances by the Armed Forces marching band, are part of The Journey of Unity Through Time, a temporary display marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the UAE Armed Forces.
Running until May 15, the display opened on May 6, the anniversary of the 1976 decision to unify the armed forces of the emirates under one central command.
The display looks at how separate defence entities came together under a shared responsibility to protect a young nation.
“Those values are integrated with the unification of the armed forces,” Ammar Al Banna, associate curator at Zayed National Museum, tells The National.
“So even before there was a solidified defence entity, you have that unification of people. Then, in more recent history, you have the Abu Dhabi Defence Force, the federal armed forces, and then, under UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in 1976, the decision to put them all under one armed forces.”
The early objects take the story back about 3,000 years. Among them is a replica Iron Age stamp seal from Rumailah in Al Ain, showing a man holding an axe – the original is displayed in one of the museum’s permanent galleries. It suggests weapons could carry meanings of authority, status and social order within settled communities, beyond their use in combat.
“We can see how weapons exist in our historical records and archaeological material, but here they are not only for practical use,” Al Banna explains. “They are much more sophisticated, whether for defence, for symbolic meaning, or for something deeper.
“It also shows that as far back as the Iron Age, we had proper, well-based communities that were dependent on the falaj irrigation system. Stamp seals at the time are being used more often, trade is expanding with wider regions, and even the technology of making weapons, as well as their variety, goes much deeper than practical use.”
The display then moves towards later forms of communal defence. A sword collection from the 1800s, an Um Fateela matchlock and a Lee-Enfield rifle are shown near a facsimile of a 1910 protest letter bearing the inked seals of prominent Dubai families. The letter was addressed to the British government after clashes between residents and British troops in what was then the Trucial States.
Al Banna links that material to a longer pattern within the UAE.
“From the 15th century onwards, with the presence of the Portuguese and then the British, if conflict arises, we see how people from the region band together in the name of defence,” he says. “It is a community that stands united in the face of any threat or harm.
“You have some of the weapons and stories of the Bani Yas tribe protecting their land and their people, and the Qawasim Tribe being front-facing with British forces. This letter from Dubai shows the prominent families protesting the British attacks of 1910. Each member of those families signed and sealed his own name in protest.”
Uniforms from the Abu Dhabi Defence Force and the Federal Armed Forces appear alongside rifles, archival photographs and medals, tracing the period between the formation of local forces, the establishment of the UAE in 1971 and the full unification of the armed forces five years later.
In the permanent gallery, Our Beginning, those stories continue through images and objects connected to service on the front line.
A soldier’s wooden box from the early 1970s offers a glimpse into the daily lives of troops, with folded clothing, a black mug, a compass and a red rope.
Material connected to the UAE’s humanitarian role during the Kosovo crisis adds another layer, including an archival photograph of President Sheikh Mohamed with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed at the UAE refugee camp in Kukes, Albania, in 1999.
A nearby panel highlights the UAE Armed Forces' work at the White Hands refugee camp on the Albania-Kosovo border, including the role of Emirati personnel in providing aid.
For Al Banna, the display reflects Zayed National Museum’s wider aim of adding depth to the UAE’s history by connecting the Armed Forces' anniversary with ancient objects, community memory and the formation of national institutions.
“It is about understanding the links,” he says. “It shows how it started, how these forces unified and what aspects came together, while also tapping into the deeper historical aspects.
“It links the pre-existing narrative of Zayed National Museum with honourable, celebratory events such as the unification of the armed forces. It is always looking forward as well. Whatever we take pride in, whatever values we see that are well-rooted, we know that we carry these values onwards.”
The Journey of Unity Through Time runs at Zayed National Museum, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, until May 15. Doors open 10 am to 8 pm
