On this day in 2021, the Guinness World Record for the Largest Origami Mosaic (flag) was broken by Arbona Fejza Idrizi in preparation for Kosova’s independence day. As she made origami flowers in her home starting in October 2020 with the help of her family, she took her work to the local high school, ‘Hamez Jashari,’ and began laying down origami flowers at the Skenderaj sports hall. With the help of students, friends, and family, the final outcome took 13 hours to produce and measured at 1,216.34m², breaking the record held by a school in Mongolia by 55m². In the end, 127,400 pieces of paper were used to achieve this record.

This was not Arbona’s first record-breaking feat, having previously broken other related origami records in 2018 and 2019. However, it is this record that really highlights the flag of Kosova and puts our country in the record books – literally. The Guinness Book of World Records is a significant institution, published globally and treated with high regard, even if its records can be rather niche.

To be included in the record books, represented not just by the record-breaking artist but the record itself – the Kosova flag – is important as it introduces our country and its people to so many people globally. It is a point of introduction and shows how Kosovar people, like Arbona, work hard to honor Kosova and promote it.