Flag of Thailand

Thong Trairong ("tricolour flag")

Five horizontal stripes of red, white, blue, white and red. The blue stripe in the middle is twice as wide as each of the others.

At a glance

Adopted: September 28, 1917
Shape (height : width): 2:3
Capital: Bangkok
Continent: Asia
Colours: red
white
dark blue

What it means

Red: the land and the nation
White: religion, especially Theravada Buddhism
Blue: the monarchy; together the colours are often summed up as "nation, religion, king", though this is a common reading rather than a law

Where it came from

The flag was adopted on 28 September 1917 by a royal decree of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI). The stripes are 1, 1, 2, 1 and 1 parts tall, so the flag looks exactly the same from both sides and cannot be hung upside down.

History

Before 1916, Siam's flag was red with a white elephant. A popular story says the king once saw that flag hanging upside down and wanted a design that could never look wrong. The first new flag was red with two white stripes.

In 1917 the middle red stripe was changed to blue. Sources say this was partly to show friendship with the Allies of the First World War, whose flags used red, white and blue. Since 2016 Thailand celebrates 28 September as National Flag Day.

Fun facts

The design was meant to be impossible to hang upside down.
Thailand's old flag showed a white elephant, a royal symbol.
Costa Rica's flag uses the same five-stripe pattern, but with the colours swapped.
In 2017 Thailand set the exact flag colours using scientific colour values.

Easy to mix up with

Costa Rica: Costa Rica has blue, white, red, white, blue, with the wide red stripe in the middle

Questions

What does the flag of Thailand look like?

Five horizontal stripes of red, white, blue, white and red. The blue stripe in the middle is twice as wide as each of the others.

What do the colours and symbols on the flag of Thailand mean?

Red: the land and the nation; White: religion, especially Theravada Buddhism; Blue: the monarchy; together the colours are often summed up as "nation, religion, king", though this is a common reading rather than a law.