No, do not name it purple. When President Donald Trump disembarked from Air Drive One in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, he stepped onto the wealthy lavender-colored carpet unfurled earlier than him, only one function of the lavish welcome prolonged to the visiting American chief on the primary day of his Gulf tour. Together with a fighter-jet escort within the air and riders on Arabian horses on the bottom, the lavender carpet is likely one of the distinctive and symbolic Saudi protocols for greeting high-profile dignitaries. Saudi Arabia swapped crimson carpets for lavender in 2021, because the ruling royal household sought to outline its personal protocols and have fun nationwide id, in accordance with a report by the official Saudi Press Company printed on the time. “Lavender within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is related to blossoming wildflowers that carpet the dominion’s desert landscapes within the spring and is a logo of Saudi generosity,” the report mentioned. In spring, Saudi Arabia’s rugged dunes are coated in lavender, basil and Germander, a flowering shrub that grows throughout the Arabian Peninsula, additionally identified by the Arabic title “Aihan.” The colour of the carpet can be a nod to how the blooms rework an in any other case harsh desert panorama, the report mentioned, symbolizing the expansion that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has promised to generate via his blueprint to diversify the financial system of the oil-dependent kingdom, known as “Imaginative and prescient 2030.” The carpet encompasses a border of the normal Al Sadu textile design created by Bedouin ladies. The geometric patterns, tightly woven on a hand loom, had been included on an inventory of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity compiled by the United Nations cultural company, UNESCO, in 2020. Saudi Arabia first rolled out a lavender carpet in 2021, for Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, a key Saudi companion within the Gulf, in accordance with the Saudi Press Company. The carpet can be used for state receptions and different official events.
