Asia

Flag of Thailand

Thailand is a Southeast Asian country known as the 'Land of Smiles' and is the only country in mainland Southeast Asia never to have been colonised by a European power. Bangkok, the capital, is one of the world's most visited cities, known for its ornate temples, vibrant street food culture, and famous floating markets. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy where the king holds deep cultural reverence, and has a strong Theravada Buddhist tradition.

CapitalBangkok
RegionAsia
Current flag since1917
Main coloursRed, White, Blue
Populationabout 72 million
Areaabout 513,000 km²
Flags in history8

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Thailand means

The Trairanga, “tricolour”, was adopted in 1917 by King Vajiravudh. Red represents the nation, white religion, and blue the monarchy. Earlier, Siam's flag showed a white elephant on red; a popular story says the king saw an elephant flag hung upside down during a flood and wanted a design that could never be.

How to recognise it

Horizontal red-white-blue-white-red — the blue centre stripe is twice the width of the others.

Did you know?

Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice and has never been colonised by a European power.

Easily confused with

Thailand's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Netherlands

Flag history of Thailand

Every flag that has flown over Thailand, from today back through time.

1917–present

Thong Trairong

The central stripe was changed to dark blue in 1917 — honoring Rama VI's birthday color and the WWI Allies — giving the red-white-blue-white-red flag with its double-width blue band.

1916–1917

Five-stripe flag

A transitional flag of five red-and-white stripes. By legend, Rama VI had seen an elephant flag flown upside-down during a flood and wanted a symmetrical design that could not be inverted.

1855–1916

White elephant on red

King Mongkut (Rama IV) added a white elephant — a royal symbol of good fortune — to the red field in 1855 so foreign ships could distinguish Siam.

1782–1855

Plain red flag

A plain red field was Siam's earliest national and merchant flag, its origins tracing back to the 17th century under King Narai.

1350–1767

Ayutthaya Kingdom

Before Bangkok, the Siamese capital was Ayutthaya — for four centuries one of the world's great cities, a cosmopolitan trading hub that astonished European visitors — which flew a plain red flag. Its destruction by a Burmese army in 1767 ended the kingdom, but the survivors regrouped and founded the Bangkok (Rattanakosin) state that became modern Thailand.

1767–1782

Thonburi Kingdom

The brief kingdom of King Taksin, who reunited Siam after the fall of Ayutthaya before Bangkok became the capital.

1516–1902

Pattani kingdom

A Malay-Muslim sultanate in what is now southern Thailand, annexed by Siam — the root of a still-simmering insurgency.

1808–1916

Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara

A Malay state on the peninsula, ceded by Siam's vassal Kedah and absorbed into Thailand as Satun province.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of Thailand.

1855–1916

Siam

King Mongkut (Rama IV) placed a white royal elephant — a sacred symbol of royal power — on a plain red field after foreign traders couldn't distinguish Siam's earlier banner.

1968–1989

Patani (PULO)

The banner of the movement seeking independence for the historically Malay-Muslim Patani region of southern Thailand: red-white stripes with a crescent and star.