Naval Rank and Command Flags (Thailand)

Last modified: 2023-06-03 by zachary harden
Keywords: rank | military | command |
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• Rank Flags
  • Admiral of the Fleet
  • Admiral
  • Vice Admiral
  • Rear Admiral
  • Commodore
• Command Flags
  • Commander-in-Chief of the Navy
  • Commander of the Fleet
  • Squadron Commander
  • Fleet Platoon Leader
  • Fleet Squad Leader
  • Temporary Chief
  • Commanding Officer
  • Commandant of a Naval Base
  • Commander of a Coastal Station
  • Royal Thai Marine Corps Commander Flag

See also:

• Chakra (wheel) on Thai military flags
• Historical Naval Rank Flags (Thailand)
• Ensigns and other Naval Flags (Thailand)
• Military Flags
• Thailand

1:1
image by Zachary Harden, 29 September 2018

The current version of the Admiral of the Fleet's flag has five chakras.

On the website of the Royal Thai Navy Musuem, there is information about Naval rank flags and other Thai naval flags. This page mentions Thai naval rank flags in 1956 that look like the flag in your site (especially the Admiral of the Fleet's flag) except their ratio was not 1:1 or 30:37. They were 5:6. [Ed.: see Naval Rank Flags 1956-1979]

Suttipong Phuensaen, 16 Mar 2007

1:1
image by Zachary Harden, 29 September 2018

Source: Barraclough and Crampton 1981.

Calvin Paige Herring, 29 May 1998

Blue flag with four white chakras, one in each corner. The change from three chakras to four for an Admiral was made in 1979, so this is how old this flag is, presumably. Previously the four-chakras flag, additionally defaced with an emblem in the middle, was used by Naval Marshal or Grossadmiral (depending on the source, but obviously for a higher ranks that we may today translate as Admiral of the Fleet maybe). Flaggenbuch shows the yellow naval badge (as in naval jack) to be set in the middle while Singha beer describes two crowned crossed white anchors.

1:1
image by Zachary Harden, 29 September 2018

Source: Barraclough and Crampton 1981.

Calvin Paige Herring, 29 May 1998

Blue flag with three white chakras, one and two. The change from two chakras to three for a Vice-Admiral was made in 1979, so this is how old this flag is, presumably. Previously the three-chakras flag was used for full admirals. The Singha Beer source shows all chakras in the naval ranks flags slightly different (with golden parts etc.) but Flaggenbuch shows them exactly as they are used today, so maybe the Singha beer site is not entirely correct in that point.

1:1
image by Zachary Harden, 29 September 2018

Source: Barraclough and Crampton 1981.

Calvin Paige Herring, 29 May 1998

Blue flag with two white chakras, one above the other. The change from one chakra to two for a Rear-Admiral was made in 1979, so this is how old this flag is, presumably. Previously the two-chakras flag was used for Vice-Admirals.

1:1
image by Zachary Harden, 29 September 2018

Source: Barraclough and Crampton 1981.

Calvin Paige Herring, 29 May 1998

Album 2000 does not show the one-chakra flag, presumably for a Commodore. FOTW has it based on [bcr81]. Maybe it was discontinued in the meantime.

This flag is authorized in the 1979 Flag Act (Cahpter 3, Section 25, Subsection 5).
Zachary Harden, 6 September 2018

2:3 image by Suttipong Phuensaen, Zachary Harden and Miles Li, 6 September 2018

Sources: Flaggenbuch 1939 and Barraclough and Crampton 1981.

Calvin Paige Herring, 30 May 1998

From the Singha Beer source:

The Flag of the Naval Commander-in-Chief
The base of this dark blue flag is two thirds of its length. In the middle stands a yellow anchor threaded through a flaming yellow Chakkra, on top of which is a Crown — also in yellow.
Launched in B.E.2479 [1936 AD] during the reign of King Rama VIII, the flag resembles the one in use at the present time.

Santiago Dotor, 5 Nov 1999

Blue flag with a yellow naval badge, the same one as used in the jack, a crowned anchor passing though a chakra. In Album 2000 the caption is "Chief of Naval Staff," but it is a matter of translation, I guess.

2:3 image by Suttipong Phuensaen, Zachary Harden and Miles Li, 6 September 2018

Source: Flaggenbuch 1939.

Calvin Paige Herring, 20 May 1998

From the Singha Beer source:

The Frigate [wrong translation for 'fleet'] Commander's Flag
This a dark blue flag, measuring two-thirds of its length. In the middle stands an anchor threaded through a flaming Chakkra, above which hovers the Royal Crown-all of which are in yellow.

The flag is shaped like a bird's tail. The flag first made its appearance in B.E.2479 [1936 AD] and has been in use ever since. Currently, it is known [as] "The Commander of a War Frigate's [wrong translation for 'fleet'] Flag".

Santiago Dotor, 5 Nov 1999

image by Suttipong Phuensaen, Zachary Harden and Miles Li, 6 September 2018

Blue swallow-tailed flag with a yellow naval badge, the tail parts being white. Badge is the same one as used in the jack, a crowned anchor passing though a chakra. It's not mentioned in Flaggenbuch nor on Singha Beer site; does it mean it is a newer one?

From the 1979 Flag Act:

Section 30. The Royal Thai Navy Command Flags are: (3) Commander of a Squadron Flag which is of the same characteristics and colour as the Commander of the Fleet Flag but the furthest end of the flag, which is cut into swallow-tail shape, is white.

2:5 image by Zachary Harden, 6 September 2018

Source: Flaggenbuch; Flags of All Nations.

From the Singha Beer source:

The Commander's Flag
The flag was a dark blue, triangular pennant, the ration of the base to the length being 2 by 5. In the middle stands a yellow anchor.

The flag first made its appearance in B.E. 2479 [1936 AD] following a special Royal Decree, known as Article 9, concerning flags. In B.E.2483 [1940 AD], however, Article 9 was abolished ["and"?] the amended Royal Decree came into force in B.E.2483 [1940 AD]. The design on the flag, however, is the same as the one used today.

image by Zachary Harden, 6 September 2018

Source: Flaggenbuch; Flags of All Nations.

A similar pennant, but with the fly (3/5ths length) coloured white, appears as Halbflotillenchefstander or "pennant of a Half-Flotilla Commander."
Santiago Dotor, 5 Nov 1999

2:5 | 2:3 Triangular pennant vertically divided in blue and white (2:3) with yellow chained anchor in the blue field. Looking at Santiango's article above, this is named in Flaggenbuch Halbflotillenchefstander.
Source: Album 2000
Željko Heimer, 30 Mar 2003

image by Zachary Harden, 6 September 2018

Triangular pennant vertically divided in white and blue with blue chained anchor in the white field. Previous sources (Flaggenbuch, Singha) have a flag for this duty all white with blue anchor (i.e. without blue fly part), but the Singha Beer site notes that this version is "nowadays discontinued." Supposedly it would be 1979 the year of introduction of the modern version, although we may only speculate the reasons for the change. (visibility, distinctiveness?)

1:30
image by Zachary Harden, 6 September 2018

The flag of the Commanding Officer is the same as the Commissioning Pennant for the RTN.
Zachary Harden, 6 September 2018

2:3 image by Suttipong Phuensaen, Zachary Harden and Miles Li, 6 September 2018

From the 1979 Flag Act:

Section 30. The Royal Thai Navy Command Flags are: (8) Commandant of Naval Base Flag which is of the same characteristics and colour as the Commander of the Fleet Flag but the furthest end of the flag, which is cut into swallow-tail shape, is sky blue.

2:3 image by Suttipong Phuensaen, Zachary Harden and Miles Li, 6 September 2018

Sources: Flaggenbuch 1939 and Barraclough and Crampton 1981.

Calvin Paige Herring, 30 May 1998

image by Suttipong Phuensaen, Zachary Harden and Miles Li, 6 September 2018

The rank flag of the Commander of the Royal Thai Marine Corps commander is blue with yellow swallowtails.
Miles Li, 15 September 2009