Thailand's flag, adopted in 1917, is made up of five horizontal stripes - red on the top and bottom, blue in the center, with white stripes separating the red and blue. The red and white stripes are of equal size; however the center blue stripe is double the size of the others. The red stripes stand for the blood shed for independence, the white for purity and the country's connection to its Buddhist religion, and the blue for the Thai monarchy ‚¬Å“ as well as an acknowledgement of its WWI allies whose flags were all red, white, and blue.