Flag of Thailand

The Thai flag (The tricolour (Thai: RTGS: thai trai rong, meaning ‘five horizontal lines of red, white, blue, white & red) is made up of five-line segments in the colours white, red, blue & red with white, The centre blue band approximately twice as wide as the other four. The design was approved by Rama VI in a royal proclamation published on September 28, 1917. Thailand has observed the day as a national holiday since 2016.

Therefore, the meaning behind the Thai flag colours symbolises the nation, Thailand’s unofficial slogan, with red signifying the country and its people, white symbolising religions, and blue symbolising the monarchy, which is also the vivid colour of Rama VI. When the monarch war was declared in July of the same year, several individuals noticed the flag. Its colours are now comparable to those of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

Design 

According to the Flag Act of BE 2522, the flag should be “rectangular with 6 portion width and 9 part spacing, consists of five streaks throughout the size of the flag; with the middle stripe appearing to be 2 part wide, of a brilliant blue hue, and the white stripes appearing to be 1 part wide next to every side of the blue streaks & the red stripes being more and more 1/3 broad next to each edge of white stripes,” and the flag should be “rectangular consisting of a  6 portion width and 9 part spacing. The National Flag is also known as the Tri-Rong flag.

In a word, Thailand’s flag reflects a sort of informal ethos that Thais abide by: nation-religion-king. The crimson stripes indicate the carnage during Thailand’s independence struggle; the white denotes purity and Buddhism (the country’s primary religion), and the blue signifies Thailand’s monarchy.

The blue stripe also serves as a symbol of unity and honour for Thailand’s World War I allies, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Russia, all of which fly red, white, and blue flags.

Historical Facts About The Thailand Flag

When the nation was known as Siam, the earliest flag of Thailand was a simple red flag; nevertheless, this design was deemed insufficient for international relations. 

The original flag, with a crimson backdrop and white elephant in the centre, was formally formed in 1855 under King Mongkut (Rama IV), and included a crimson background and also a white elephant in the centre, which has long been a traditional national animal.

The current flag design was accepted by the nation in 1917, however, the middle stripe still was crimson at the time. According to historians, the concept for this flag came when King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) spotted the symbol hanging overturned after a flood and resolved to construct a new flag to avoid this from happening again. 

The central stripe was changed to blue a short time later in the same year. During World War I, the Siamese Expeditionary Force marched through Paris with the Siamese tricolour in 1919.

Thailand’s National Flag

The initial flag of Siam was most probably a simple red one, which was first flown under the reign of Narai (1656–1688). Just on red ground, the naval flags had various insignia, such as with white chakra or perhaps the Hindu legendary animal Airavata inside the chakra.

Because the simple coloured flag was not distinguishable enough for international interactions, Mongkut (Rama IV) produced the first flag in 1855, with a white elephant on a red background.

In 1916, the flag was changed to include a white elephant clothed in royal attire. In 1916, the civil ensign is specified as the current format, but with the primary colour matching the outer stripe’s red. 

At the time of the flood, Vajiravudh (Rama VI) spotted the flag laying upside down and fashioned a new equal flag to stop this from happening again, according to tradition.

IIn 1917, the central colour was changed to a dark blue, comparable to indigo, which was thought to be a favourable colour for Saturdays, which happened to be the day Vajiravudh was born. Other stories claim that the blue colour was selected to represent unity with World War I combatants, who were wearing blue. 

The present Thai sign is one of the world’s oldest, initially established by royal order on September 28, 1917, by Rama VI. Thong. Trairong, which means literally ‘tricolour,’ is the local name for the national flag. The flag has five horizontal stripes: red, blue-white, blue, white, & red with the central blue stripe being double the width of the rest.

Conclusion

Thailand was one of the few countries to resist European dominance but became an ally in World War I due to its strong links with the West. To honour the partnership, King Rama VI (Vajiravudh) modified the nation’s flag to a more “modern” style.

The animal was replaced with two straight white stripes against one red background on November 21, 1916, and the middle red stripe was altered to blue on September 28, 1917. Thailand now has a flag with the same “colours of liberty” as its allies, the United Kingdom, the US, Russia, and France.