The immense 1,110 sq metre flag, meant to symbolise Bulgaria’s territory of 111,000 sq km, was hoisted up the record-breaking pole in a forest meadow in the Rhodope mountains.

With it, Bulgaria takes the flagpole crown from Finland, which has a 100-metre pole, though it does not nearly touch the heights of some outside Europe that are almost twice as high.

Annual folklore festival organiser Simeon Karakolev raised €500,000 (£429,000) in donations for the pole in a campaign embraced by Bulgaria’s pro-Russian president, Rumen Radev.

Local media said a number of public companies were approached on Radev’s behalf to donate money for the mast on the mountain meadow where the festival is held.

“This won’t make Bulgarians richer but it will raise people’s spirits,” Mr Karakolev said.

Karakolev raised €500,000 (£429,000) in donations for the pole in a campaign embraced by Bulgaria’s pro-Russian president, Rumen Radev.

The concrete poured for the flagpole’s foundations on the pristine mountain meadows, and alleged irregularities with its permits, also sparked calls from environmentalists to ban it. A petition against it collected thousands of signatures.

Karakolev said this was “undeserved hate” and thanked authorities for not “backing down to pressure as checks showed everything is perfectly legal”.