Guinness World Records hails flag weighing five tons that took weeks to sew and used 44 miles of thread

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A Romanian village has unfurled what is the largest flag ever made, according to Guinness World Records.

It took 200 people several hours to roll out the flag, which measured about 349 x 227 metres (1,145 x 744.5ft) , about three times the size of a football field, according to Jack Brockbank, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records who measured the flag before pronouncing it the biggest flag in the world.

Villagers carry the huge flag on the Clinceni airfield, south of Bucharest. Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP

"It gives me great pleasure to recognize a new Guinness World Record title," he said after measuring the flag. "Congratulations Romania!"

He said Romania's red, yellow and blue flag covers an area of about 79,290 sq metres (853,478 sq ft), beating Lebanon, which had held the previous record.

The five-ton flag was displayed in Clinceni, 22 miles (35km) south-east of Bucharest. Workers struggled to keep it firmly planted on the ground because of windy conditions and had to use small sandbags to weigh it down.

Adrian Dragomir, manager of the Flags Factory, which created the flag, says it took weeks to sew and 44 miles (70km) of thread was needed.

A military brass band played as the Romanian prime minister, Victor Ponta, and other ministers arrived in the village to inspect the flag.