10 Interesting Facts about the Flag of Thailand

The Thai people are very proud of their flag and display it visibly all over Thailand.

Here are 10 interesting facts about the Flag of Thailand:

1. The flag of Thailand, or Thong Trairong (ธงไตรรงค์) in Thai, means “tricolor flag.”

2. The flag has five horizontal stripes, the central blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four stripes.

3. The colours of the stripes on the flag are red, white, blue, white and red.

4. The colours stand for nation-religion-king: red for the land and people, white for all religions,and blue for the monarchy.

5. The first flag of Thailand was created in 1855 by King Rama IV (King Mongkut) and featured a white elephant on a red field.

6. On November 21, 1916, King Rama VI (King Vajiravudh) replaced the elephant with two horizontal white stripes against a red background.

7. The current design was adopted after a royal decree issued by King Rama VI on 28 September 1917.

8. At that time, the middle colour was changed to dark blue, which was regarded as the auspicious colour for Saturday, the day King Rama VI was born.

9. But, according to some sources, the blue colour was also chosen to express solidarity with the Allies during World War I.

10. The Thai flag has the same colours as those of Britain, France, Russia and the United States.

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