The Thailand Flag

The Modern Day Thailand Flag Replaced
The Original Thai Flag

Historically the Kings of Siam and Thailand have kept albino, sacred, white elephants and the original flag of Thailand was that of a white elephant on a field of red encircled by a golden wheel. The wheel was dropped at the behest of King Rama IV in 1851.

Urban myth has it that when the French and other westerners known locally as 'Farangs' came to Siam in the late 1800's they mistook the elephant for a rodent! This upset the Thai people and their king and the flag was changed to the current one of red, white and blue in 1916. In truth it is more likely that the flag was brought into line with other modernising countries with a naval presence after the turn of the century.

The shape and flag ratio of the Thailand flag is described as 2:3 ( length = 1½ times the height).

The [left] half of the flag nearest the flag pole is called the 'Hoist'. The upper inner quarter of the flag is called the 'Canton'. The outer half of the flag is called the 'Fly'.

The red field of the Thai national flag represents the land or nation, the white area represents the Buddhist faith or religon and the blue represents the central position of the King.

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