The flag of Thailand

Thailand (Kingdom of Thailand) has a tricolor flag composed by the colors white, red, and blue. With five stripes instead of only three. The name of the Thai flag in Thai is Thong Trairong which simply means the tricolor flag.

National flag of thailand three colors - white, red and blue - represent religion, the nation and the king , respectively. In fact the unofficial motto of Thailand is "Nation, Religion, King". The colors of the flag are in this order: red - white - blue - white - red. The middle blue stripe is twice as thick as any of the other four.

History of the Flag of Thailand
The flag was adopted as the national flag of the Kingdom of Thailand on September 28, 1917 by royal decree issued by King Rama VI. Throughout the history different flags were used, and the Thai flag went through several changes before being tricolor of today.

It is considered that the first flag of Thailand was the one that was used under the reign of King Narai, who ruled the country (then Siam) from 1656 to 1688. This was a simple red flag.
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Throughout history there were other flags of common use, especially military, like for example a red flag with a chakra (the weapon of the Hindu god Vishnu) in the center. Another variant of the Thai flag that was used over time has a white elephant inside the chakra .

However, the first official flag of Thailand was the one that Rama IV (King Mongkut) institutionalized in 1855 . The old red flag was considered little distinctive to be used in international relations, and this king changed it by a flag composed by a white elephant in a red background .

In 1916 the flag of Thailand returned to have a new change adopting a design very similar to the present one but with the central strip of red color. In 1917 the flag adopted the design that has survived until the present time by order of Rama VI (King Vajiravudh). It is said that during some floods King Rama VI saw the Thai flag flutter upside down and ordered to change the design to have one that was totally symmetrical.

The central strip was changed to dark blue which at that time was considered a lucky color for Saturdays, the day Rama VI was born. It is also said that this change was due to their desire to show solidarity with the Allied forces of World War I, who also wore red, blue and white flags.