July 1971 was a month filled with momentous events. US president Richard Nixon revealed in a nationwide radio broadcast he had accepted an invitation to become the first American leader to visit communist China. Not long after, three astronauts blasted off from Cape Kennedy in Florida as part of the Apollo 15 Moon mission. Several parts of the Middle East were in turmoil and a short-lived coup attempt rocked Sudan.
In the Arabian Gulf, a different kind of development was taking place – a new beginning. On Sunday, July 18, 1971, UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, signed the declaration of the Union and the Constitution, announcing a new country that would be officially called the United Arab Emirates. A collection of emirates came together as the British Empire retreated amid a Cold War world marked by superpower rivalry. These emirates were at the start of a journey that would eventually see their peoples achieve much, including space travel within two generations.
It is fitting that this moment is to be officially commemorated in the UAE every year from now on. On Thursday, President Sheikh Mohamed said Union Pledge Day would join three other national occasions – Union Day, Flag Day and Commemoration Day – “to celebrate the history of our country and the blessed journey towards establishing the Union”.
But as much as Union Pledge Day will look back at this milestone on the path to Emirati statehood, it is also about the future. Although the UAE is a relatively young nation, many of the figures who were critical to its early days have passed on. The country has done an excellent job in documenting the pioneering spirit of those early days – visitors to Union House in Dubai can watch video testimony from those who were with Sheikh Zayed and the other Rulers in those formative years of nation building.
Remembering pivotal national moments is important for current and future generations of Emiratis. The country’s rapid development and present-day prosperity are a direct consequence of the decisions made on days such as July 18, 1971, as well as much subsequent planning, hard work and sacrifice. It is important, therefore, to set aside an official day to preserve and highlight this important element of historical context.
Union Pledge Day will be of importance to foreign-born residents of the UAE, too. While many people have moved to the Emirates for a better life, knowing and understanding the country’s journey to its contemporary 21st-century position is part of being grounded here and feeling part of the national project – a little cultural and historical appreciation of the path to nationhood is no bad thing.
"On this date, the founding fathers signed the Union Document and they drafted the state’s Constitution, and here we are today celebrating this covenant and immortalising it in the nation’s memory and the conscience of its people," Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, said on X today. “Covenant” is an apt word to describe a binding agreement that led to different emirates and tribes pooling their sovereignty and resources to build something greater than the sum of their parts. It is a covenant that has lasted for more than five decades and, amid a volatile world, looks set to endure for decades more.
