A horizontaltriband of red, blue (double height) and red; charged with a white circle in the centre (the diameter of white circle is four-fifths the height of blue band)
The national flag of theLao People's Democratic Republic consists of 3 horizontal stripes, with the middle stripe in blue being twice the height of the top and bottom red stripes. In the middle is a white disc, the diameter of the disc is4⁄5 the height of the blue stripe. The flag ratio is 2:3. The flag was first adopted in 1945 under theLao Issara government of 1945–46, then by thePathet Lao.
From 1973 to 1975, the Pathet Lao formed part of the government coalition, before assuming power directly and prompting the abdication of the king. Their flag was adopted as the national flag. According to the original creator of the flag,Maha Sila Viravong, the white disk in the center symbolizes the unity of the Lao people (and the future reunification of the 2 Laotian regions of Laos and Northeastern Thailand that are divided by theMekong River) under 1 nation. It is said to represent a full moon against the Mekong River. The red stripes stand for the blood shed by the Lao people on both banks of the Mekong River (the multi-ethnic people of Laos and theIsan people ofNortheastern Thailand) in their struggle for freedom and independence from the French, and the blue symbolizes the Mekong River itself, a symbol of the nation's prosperity.[1]
Image of the French protectorate flag of Laos (Kingdom of Luang Prabang)An original 1960s Kingdom of Laos flag withfringe
The flag was designed in 1945 by Maha Sila Viravong, an intellectual, and scholar of literature, history, and culture. As a member of the Lao Issara movement, he was tasked with creating a new Lao national flag that was to be distinct from the royalist red flag with the white 3-headed elephant. Viravong drew inspiration from Thailand's 1917 adoption of a red-white-blue tricolour, replacing the traditional royal flag (a red flag with a white elephant). After the establishment of the Lao Issara government and the adoption of the first Lao constitution on October 12, 1945, Viravong's flag was selected by the government as its national flag, lasting until the reassertion of French control in 1946. The Lao Issara, as a political movement, continued to use the flag in exile until its dissolution in 1949. Its communist-led successor, the Pathet Lao, chose Viravong's flag to represent their movement until the fall of the royal government in 1975, when the Pathet Lao took power and adopted it as the national flag.[1]
From 1952 until the fall of the royal government in 1975, the country had a red flag, with a white 3-headed elephant (representing the Hindu godErawan) in the middle. On top of the elephant is a 9-folded umbrella, while the elephant itself stands on a 5-level pedestal. Thewhite elephant is a royal symbol inSoutheast Asia, including in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. This flag was adopted by the royal monarchy ofLuang Prabang since the beginning of the 20th century under French rule, inspired by its similar flag (red flag with the single white elephant) in Thailand during that time.[2]
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