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:
“My image is a statement of the symbols of the harsh, impersonal products and brash materialistic objects on which America is built today. It is a projection of everything that can be bought and sold, the practical but impermanent symbols that sustain us.”
—Andy Warhol (1928–1987)
“The twentieth-century artist who uses symbols is alienated because the system of symbols is a private one. After you have dealt with the symbols you are still private, you are still lonely, because you are not sure anyone will understand it except yourself. The ransom of privacy is that you are alone.”
—Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911)
“Children became an obsessive theme in Victorian culture at the same time that they were being exploited as never before. As the horrors of life multiplied for some children, the image of childhood was increasingly exalted. Children became the last symbols of purity in a world which was seen as increasingly ugly.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)