Province flags

I have written before about the flags for the Thai provinces, and how strange it is that in a country where flags are flown almost everywhere that these flags are never seen in public - only the national flag, the Buddhist wheel flag and the flags of HM the King or the Queen are seen everywhere. One reason is probably the lack of any regional identity, at least any officially endorsed one.

When I was looking for data on the mayor of Surat Thani, Mrs. Sombun Suwannabut (สมบูรณ์ สุวรรณบุตร), to my surprise within the Google Image search result was one photo I which I could recognize the province flag of Surat Thani.

The photo shows the mayor on the right side holding a flag of the Tourism Authority (TAT), and deputy province governor Somsak Changtrakun (สมศักดิ์ จังตระกูล) holding the province flag on the left side. The photo was taken at the opening ceremony of a car rally, which started at the city pillar shrine of Surat Thani, launched on July 23 2010 in celebration of the 95th anniversary of the province. Well, actually in 1915 was only the rename of the province to Surat Thani, but good enough for celebrating an easy to remember anniversary.

Anyway, from the fact that I have never seen any such provincial flag in real, and in that photo is used by the deputy province governor lets me suspect that these flags are only used by the governor and his deputies. And it looks like I have to refine my design of the Surat Thani flag, as in the photo the chedi is placed on a circular white area, it has the same cloud decorations around as on the provincial seal, and the name of the province is written below it. Don't know what and if there is a completely defined official design.