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Army Flags (Thailand)

Chakra (wheel) on Thai Military flags
Army Flag (ChaiChalermpol)
The Mahapaicha Yonthawat Flag
The Chuthathutthippatai Flag
Army Flag 1892-1908
Army Flag 1911
Divisional Colours (?) 1962-1979
World War One Army Flag
Army Aviation Marking

See also:

Other sites:

Thailand's Buddhist Era Calendar
(Editor's note: to obtain AD dates, simply take away 543 years from the BE dates)

Chakra (wheel) on Thai Military flags

Knowing that the first ships of the Thai Navy were steam ships and having heard of the rather bizarre story that the Siam Steamship Company donated these ships to the Navy I was wondering if this emblem could be the steampaddle wheels.

Mats, 13 January 1999

Pedersen 1971 refers to them as rosettes but also has them with the points going the other direction [ie. clockwise]. The description of the naval jack in Flaggenbuch 1939 names the device as a chakra.

Michael P. Smuda, 13 January 1999

It is a chakra, the same religiously related symbol as found on the flag of India, and some other flags of the region (Sikkim).

Željko Heimer, 13 January 1999

I have received from the Thai Embassy in Paris plates on rank flags, with these chakras used also for Minister of Defence and for the Chiefs of Joint Staff and Army Staff. Another plate received from the French attaché in Bangkok mentions "Chakra or wheel".

Armand Noel du Payrat, 13 January 1999

In the Singha Beer Thong Thai flag site, the devices in admiral rank flags are definitely called flaming Chakkras (with a double "k"), which probably is the most correct term.

Santiago Dotor, 13 January 1999

The wheels in Thai admiral flags are "discus" (Cak). The discuses appear on the rank of Thai admirals in the same way as stars appear for American admirals.

Wisarut Bholsithi, 29 October 1999

Army Flag

ChaiChalermpol

2:3
by Calvin Paige Herring

The Army's flag is well-known dating to before World War II. The flag of the Thai Army is the national flag defaced by the army badge. Sources: Flaggenbuch 1939; Smith 1979; Barraclough and Crampton 1981.

Calvin Paige Herring, 31 May 1998

There is a Thai phrase on the discus (Cak). It is read as Salacheep Phuechart (Sacrificing Lives for the Nation) — the motto of the Royal Thai Army in the past.

Wisarut Bholsithi, 29 October 1999

The Mahapaicha Yonthawat Flag

The blue border matches the original source's background and is not part of the flag
from the Singha Beer source

From the Singha Beer source:

The Mahapaicha Yonthawat
This is a rectangular red flag with a smaller rectangle —in black— forming the middle. In the center is a double-tiered chalice carrying royal trident, and with two multi-tiered white canopies on one either side.

The flag was made to commemorate the discovery, at Tambon Kok Pra Amphur Srimahabho in Prachinburi Province, of a sacred relic in the from of a bronze garuda covered in gold. The garuda is believed to have come from the top of the flagpole used by Kings in ancient times to lead their troops into battle. Since it was considered a symbol of good luck and prosperity, King Rama VI commissioned his artisans to repair the garuda and affix it to the top of a flagpole. He then ordered a black flag to be made, framed by a rectangular red border, upon which a copy of the Royal seal was then embroidered. Then, when the flag was completed, he named it the Mahapaichayonthawat [sic] flag. The flag was used by the military in the same way as the Chuthathuthippatai was during the reign of King Rama V.

Santiago Dotor, 28 October 1999

The Chuthathutthippatai Flag

The blue border matches the original source's background and is not part of the flag
from the Singha Beer source

From the Singha Beer source:

Chuthathutthippatai
This is a red flag, with white blades of Chakra bordering ["fringing"?] on three sides, carried ["carrying"] the national coat of arms in the center. King Rama V ordered it made in B.E.2427 and had it paraded before the troops under the leadership of Maha Ammart Ek Chaopraya Surasakdi Montri (Jerm Saeng-Xuto), before they set out to fight the Hor insurgents who had sparked a rebellion in Sipsongpanna and in the provinces in B.E.2428. Later, the flag came to be known as the "Chuthathutthippatai".

Santiago Dotor, 29 October 1999

Army Flag 1892-1908

The blue border matches the original source's background and is not part of the flag
from the Singha Beer source

From the Singha Beer source:

The Military Flag B.E.2435 [1892 AD]
This is a square red flag with the national coat of arms in the middle. [No apparent difference with the Chuthathutthippatai except for the lack of fringe.] King Rama V had the flag made in B.E.2435, and ordered it to be presented before the trops [sic], including then Royal Household Cavalry, the outer artillery, the King's Bodyguard from the Infantry, the King's bodyguard from the Royal Household Infantry, the Royal oarsmen belonging to Infantry. It remained in use up until B.E.2451 [1908 AD].

Santiago Dotor, 29 October 1999

Army Flag 1911

The blue border matches the original source's background and is not part of the flag
from the Singha Beer source

From the Singha Beer source:

The Military Flag B.E.2454 [1911 AD]
This is a square red flag, in the middle of which stands a fully caparisoned white elephant standing on a raised dais, facing in the direction of the flagpole. In the top left-hand corner is the Royal Insignia in blue — on which are inscribed the initials "Wor-Por-Ror". Above the seal stands the Royal Crown with rays of shining light radiating from its tip.
In B.E.2454, King Rama VI ordered the original military flag, which was red, to be replaced with one showing a fully caparisoned white elephant on a platform, together with the Royal seal carrying the initials Jor-Por-Rou- [sic] under the crown of King Rama V. He then had it paraded before various military units in a trooping-of-the-colour ceremony to commemorate his coronation. The flag is believed to have remained in use right up until the end of his reign.

Santiago Dotor, 29 October 1999

Divisional Colours (?) 1962-1979

The blue border matches the original source's background and is not part of the flag
from the Singha Beer source

From the Singha Beer source:

The Flags of the Military Divisions B.E.2505 [1962 AD]
This is a tricolor flag with a crown in the top left-hand corner, the identity of the King conveyed by the appropriate ordinal number in yellow. Beneath the crown, from which blue rays of light radiate, are his Majesty's initials — in red outlined in yellow. The outer edges of the flag are trimmed in yellow braid, 2 cms wide. [Like th-army.gif "Army Flag" (top), with crown and initials.]

An announcement by the Ministry of Defense, dated December 22, B.E. 2505, issued in line with the Royal Decree of B.E.2479 [1936 AD] concerning flags, specified the materials to be used to embroider the patterns on the flags of the various military units.

The military flag currently in use —the ChaiChalermpol Flag— follows the pattern specified in a special Royal Decree of B.E.2522 [1979 AD] concerning flags.

Santiago Dotor, 29 October 1999

World War One Army Flag

Obverse and reverse

The blue borders match the original source's background and is not part of the flag
both from the Singha Beer source

From the Singha Beer source:

Flag used in World War I
This was a rectangular tricolor, similar to the "Trairanga". In the middle of the back of the flag are the royal initials —Ror-Ror— and the number VI under a Royal Crown, with light radiating from its tip, framed by a red circle. On the top and bottom red strips there are words denoting the Blessing of the Lord Buddha, Chaimongkol. On the front, in the middle, framed by a red circle, is s white elephant in full caparison, standing on a raised dais. On the top and bottom red stripes are words invoking the Blessing of the Lord Buddha similar to those on the front. [Reverse like the Naval Ensign, with Thai inscriptions on the top and bottom stripes.]

King Rama VI ordered the Chaichalermpol flag to be made and conveyed to the Thai troops who had joined the Allied forces in Europe during World War I (B.E.2460) [1917 AD]. As an additional touch he had ordered the Buddha Chaiya Mongkol Katha to be added to the red stripes at the top and bottom to offer a blessing the troops. The enemy was likened to the ungodly who invaded but would eventually be defeated by the forces of righteousness.

Santiago Dotor, 29 October 1999

Army Aviation Marking

Kongbin Tha Han Bo (Army Aviation) uses the same marking as the Air Force. See photo.

Dov Gutterman, 26 Jun 2003