---
title: "Flag of Thailand: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Thailand flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/thailand/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Thailand

**The flag of Thailand: Five horizontal stripes — red, white, a double-height blue, white, red.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1917

The blue band was added in 1917 partly because it was the colour of Thailand's new First World War allies, Britain, France and the United States, and partly because blue was the king's birth-colour under the Thai weekday tradition. The previous flag showed a white elephant on red, which was replaced after King Vajiravudh reportedly saw one flying upside down during a flood. Costa Rica's flag is the same five-stripe layout with the red and blue exchanged. The nickname Trairanga means "tricolour", though there are five stripes.

## Flags it gets confused with

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Costa Rica | Costa Rica swaps the colours — blue outer stripes and a double-height red centre. |

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Red** (#A51931) — The land and the people
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — Religion, principally Buddhism
- **Blue** (#2D2A4A) — The monarchy; the double-height central band

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1917
- **Colours:** red, white, blue

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Thailand look like?

Five horizontal stripes — red, white, a double-height blue, white, red.

### What do the colours of the Thailand flag mean?

Red: the land and the people. White: religion, principally Buddhism. Blue: the monarchy; the double-height central band.

### How do you tell the Thailand flag from the Costa Rica one?

Costa Rica swaps the colours — blue outer stripes and a double-height red centre.

### When was the Thailand flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1917, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Thailand](https://atoneplace.net/country/thailand/)
- [The flag of Costa Rica](https://atoneplace.net/flag/costa-rica/)
- [Every flag with red in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/red/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]