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Subject: |
The Thai National Flag, known
in Thai as
thong chaht
and also referred as
thong trai rong,
i.e.
tricolour,
consists of horizontal
red-white-blue-white-red
bands,
colours
that symbolize the nation
(red),
the monarchy
(blue)
and
religion
(white)
and was
introduced
in
1917 by King
Rama VI.
Shown
underneath
the current
national flag are some former models, namely, from left to
right:
Thong
Chak (fig.),
used from AD 1782 to 1817;
Thong
Chang Chak (fig.),
used from AD 1817 to 1855;
Thong Chang
(fig.),
used from AD 1855 to 1893-1917; and
Thong
Chang Song Kreuang
(fig.),
used from AD 1898 to 1917. Missing from this chronological
list is
Thong
Chang Song Kreuang Chak
(fig.),
which was used between AD
1893 and 1898, while depicted here on the outermost right is
the
Civil
Ensign,
in Thai known
as
thong kha khaay or ‘trade flag’, a rectangular flag with two white parallel stripes on a
plain red background (fig.), which was
used briefly between ca. AD 1916 and 1917 as the precursor of the
current national flag, and thus used for a while
simultaneously with the Thong Chang Song Kreuang. In the upper back ground
of the postage stamp is a silhouette of
Wat Phra Kaew
and the
Grand Palace,
two national icons, while the lower back ground shows a sea
of small Thai National Flags, suggesting a crowd waving
flags at
Sanam Luang,
i.e. the
field in front
of the royal palace. |
.jpg "2017/30")
