Flag of Thailand
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| Name | Trairanga (Thai: ธงไตรรงค์, RTGS: Thong Trairong), "Tricolour flag" |
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| Use | National flag, civil and state ensign |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 28 September 1917 |
| Design | Five horizontal stripes of red, white, blue, white and red, the middle stripe twice as wide as the others |
| Designed by | King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) |
Variant flag of Thailand
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| Name | Thai: ธงราชนาวี (RTGS: Thong Ratchanawi), "Royal Navy flag" |
| Use | Naval Ensign and diplomatic flag |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 28 September 1917 |
| Design | A red disc containing a white elephant in regalia centred on the national flag |
The flag of the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ธงไตรรงค์, Thong Trairong, meaning "tricolour flag”) shows five horizontal stripes in the colours red, white, blue, white and red, with the central blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four. The design was adopted on 28 September 1917, according to the royal decree issued by Rama VI that year.
The colours are said to stand for nation-religion-king, an unofficial motto of Thailand, red for the land and people, white for religions and blue for the monarchy, the last having been the auspicious colour of Rama VI. As the king declared war on Germany that July, some note the flag now bore the same colours as those of Britain, France, Russia and the United States.
The Flag Act of BE 2522 (1979 CE) stipulates the design of national flag as "a rectangle 6 portions in width and 9 portions in length, vertically divided into five full-length horizontal stripes: at the middle, a blue stripe 2 portions wide; flanking the blue stripe, two white stripes 1 portion wide each; and outwardly flanking the white stripes, two red stripes 1 portion wide each. The flag shall also to be known as the Trairanga."
The colours of the flag were standardised in a convention held by the National Identity Office on 7 May 2010, and are pending formal adoption as a Thai Industrial Standard. The adopted specifications are Munsell value 5R4/12 for the red, and 7.5PB2/4 for the blue.
The first flag used for Siam was probably a plain red one, first used under King Narai (1656–1688). Naval flags later used different symbols on the red ground—a white chakra (the weapon of the Hindu god Vishnu, which is also used as the symbol of the House of Chakri), or a white elephant inside the chakra.
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Wikipedia