Carpet Day is observed annually in Turkmenistan on the last Sunday of May to honour the Turkmen artisans who hand-weave remarkable textiles.

Carpet making is closely intertwined with the culture and history of Turkmenistan and carpet weaving is extremely important to the national economy. Traditional Turkmen carpet patterns are depicted on the national flag and emblem of Turkmenistan, and hold significant symbolic meaning for the Turkmen people.

A Turkmen rug is a type of handmade floor-covering textile traditionally originating in Central Asia. The original Turkmen rugs were produced by the Turkmen tribes who are the main ethnic group in Turkmenistan. They are used for various purposes, including tent rugs, door hangings and bags of various sizes.

A few centuries back, almost all Turkmen rugs were produced by nomadic tribes almost entirely with locally obtained materials, wool from the herds and vegetable dyes, or other natural dyes from the land. They used geometrical designs that varied from tribe to tribe; most famous are the Yomut, Ersari, Saryk, Salor, and Tekke.

At the end of the 20th century, carpet weaving in Turkmenistan had become one of the most important sectors of the economy. In 1992, Turkmen Carpet Day officially became a public national holiday, celebrated annually on the last Sunday in May. The vertical strip of the Flag of Turkmenistan placed five main patterns of Turkmen carpets.

The above shown stamp is one of the first stamps issued by the country on 29 November 1992. The stamp comes with the denomination of 1 Russian ruble and depicts a piece of carpet in the centre with the name of the country in Roman and Local Language at the top along with the denomination value where as the year of issue is seen at the bottom.

Image Source: http://marki-pochtoy.ru

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