Symbols
The provincial seal, Rup chang nai thong nam (รูปช้างในท้องน้ำ), is a reference to the training of wild elephants to be able to take orders in battle and for various types of animal labour.
The decision behind the selection of Rup chang nai thong nam, meaning Image of an Elephant in a Body of Water, as the provincial seal was because this was the origin of Mae Hong Son's founding, which first began with Lord Kaeo of Ma being sent to capture elephants for the Lord of Chiang Mai (1825–1846). Once in Mae Hong Son, he gathered the scattered Shan settlements to establish two main villages to be ruled over by their elected leaders, the villages of Ban Pang Mu and Ban Mae Hong Son. Indeed, the reason for the name Mae Hong Son or Village of the Elephant Training Camp Bayou was simply because the elephant training camp established there was in an area with a nearby brook.
The provincial tree is Millettia brandisiana, and the provincial flower is the tree marigold.
The official province slogan as promoted by the Thai government is:
- Thai: หมอกสามฤดู กองมูเสียดฟ้า ป่าเขียวขจี ผู้คนดี ประเพณีงาม ลือนามถิ่นบัวตอง
- RTGS: mok sam ruedu, Kong Mu siat fa, pa khiao khachi, phu khon di, prapheni ngam, lue nam thin bua tong
- Mists throughout the three seasons, the Kong Mu (Monastery) that scrapes the sky, verdant forests, gentle people, beautiful customs; renowned land of sunflowers
Read more about this topic: Mae Hong Son Province
Famous quotes containing the word symbols:
“The use of symbols has a certain power of emancipation and exhilaration for all men. We seem to be touched by a wand, which makes us dance and run about happily, like children. We are like persons who come out of a cave or cellar into the open air. This is the effect on us of tropes, fables, oracles, and all poetic forms. Poets are thus liberating gods.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)