The embroidered flags are from Marwan Rechmaoui’s project Blazon, first exhibited at Sfeir-Semler Gallery in Beirut. The project imagines a heraldic system for the city: Rechmaoui designed more than 400 embroidered flags and dozens of shields, assigning symbols to Beirut’s neighborhoods, streets, landmarks, and local histories. Rather than using official municipal emblems, he invents a symbolic language drawn from place names, geography, memory, politics, architecture, and oral history.
The flags were meticulously embroidered by the Beirut design studio Bokja, whose expertise in textile craftsmanship allowed Rechmaoui’s drawings to become richly textured banners. Their embroidery gives the work the appearance of medieval heraldry while remaining deeply rooted in contemporary Beirut.
