Nation, Religion, King
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''Nation, Religion, King'' (, : ; , ) is a motto and classic
hendiatris Hendiatris ( ; ) is a figure of speech used for emphasis, in which three words are used to express one idea. The phrases "sun, sea and sand", and " wine, women and song" are examples. A tripartite motto is the conventional English term for a mot ...
which serves as an official motto of
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and an unofficial but de-facto
motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...
of
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
.


History

The Thai slogan, "''Chat, Satsana, Phramahakasat''" was created by
Vajiravudh Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and pro ...
(Rama VI, 1910-1925) at the beginning of the 20th century. It echoes ''
La Nation, la Loi, le Roi ''La Nation, la Loi, le Roi'' () was the national motto of France during the constitutional period of the French monarchy, and is an example of a tripartite motto – much like the popular revolutionary slogan; ''Liberté, égalité, fraternité ...
'' (English: The Nation, the Law, the King) which was the
national motto This article lists state and national mottos for the world's nations. The mottos for some states lacking general international recognition, extinct states, non-sovereign nations, regions, and territories are listed, but their names are not bold ...
of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
during the constitutional period of the
French monarchy France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...
. After being educated at
Sandhurst School Sandhurst School is a coeducational secondary school located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England. The headteacher is Gareth Croxon. History The school was opened in 1969. The first headteacher was Bill Dally. He retired from the post in 1982. An ...
during the rise of
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
in Europe on the eve of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the Thai King may have blended the modern Western concept of nationalism with the older indigenous symbols of kingship and ''Shangha'' to encourage loyalty to the nation. During the 1930s Boworadet Rebellion, official propaganda modified the nationalist motto and believed that ''Nation, Religion, King and Constitution'' would be the four factors for Siamese unity and independence. The earliest record of this slogan in Cambodia appears in the preface to the Cultural Committee's serial of world lists carried in the Khmer-language ''Kambuja Suryia'' in 1949, but most decisively, Khmer novelist Nhok Them popularized the triad with a book entitled ''Nation, Religion, King'' in 1950. Nhok Them had studied in Thailand from 1918 to 1930 at the time of King Rama VI, maybe explaining the translation of the notion, although he never refers it to Thailand in his work. By 1960, it had become a way to summarize the fundamental values of Cambodian culture which the Teacher Training Center in Kampong Kantuot made a short film entitled ''"The 3 Pillars of Cambodian strength: Church, Throne and Nation",'' with the support of the
United States Information Service The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...
'','' inspired by a triad formulated by sinologisit
Edward Harper Parker Edward Harper Parker (3July 18491926) was an English barrister and sinologist who wrote a number of books on the First and Second Opium Wars and other Chinese topics. On his return to England he ended his career as a university professor. Biogra ...
. From 1958 to 1963, Thai Army chief
Sarit Thanarat Sarit Thanarat (also spelled Dhanarajata; ; born Siri (); 16 June 1908 – 8 December 1963) was a Thai politician and military commander. He served as commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army (from 1954) and as Minister of Defense during ...
suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament, and banned parties, using the motto ''Nation, Religion, King'' but adding, first and foremost, faithfulness to the government''.'' However, in the 1970s, the Thai extreme right-wing Buddhist and anti-communist
Nawaphon The Nawaphon organization (, alternatively transcribed as ''Navapol'', ''Nawapol'', ''Nawaphol'', translated variously as 'new force', 'ninth force',) or 'nine new forces' was a Thai extreme right-wing, patriotic, Buddhist and anti-communist propag ...
organization saw itself as "the only group that asready and able to defend the nation, the ''satsana'', and the king." In 1984, in an attempt to explain this motto, David K. Wyatt referred to it as a " trinitarian mystery in which all three elements were inextricably bound together".
Benedict Anderson Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson (August 26, 1936 – December 13, 2015) was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States. Anderson is best known for his 1983 book ''Imagined Communities'', which e ...
compares it with the Shibboleth
Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality (; Transliteration, transliterated: Pravoslávie, samoderzhávie, naródnost'), also known as Official Nationalism,Riasanovsky, p. 132 was the dominant Imperial ideological doctrine of Russian Emperor Nichol ...
, "an anticipatory strategy adopted by dominant dynastic groups which are threatened with marginalization or exclusion from an emerging nationally-imagined community". The Cambodian Constitution of December 1993 integrated ''Nation, Religion, King'' as the official motto of the restored monarchy in its fourth article. It in fact matched the "three constants of post-Angkorian Cambodian political history, namely, the Buddhist monarchy, the Theravada Sangha (community of monks), and the village-based society of ethnic lowland Khmer".


Illustration

The ''Nation, Religion, King'' motto is often represented by the flags of Thailand and Cambodia. In Cambodia, the motto is reflected in the order of the three national flags of Cambodia that must be raised in all public spaces as reminded in official government directives, with the national flag in the central most important position, then the Buddhist flag and finally the royal standard. More symbolically in Thailand, the colours of the flag of Thailand are said to stand for nation-religion-king, an unofficial motto of Thailand, red for Thai ethnicity, white for
religions Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, t ...
and blue for the
monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
, the last having been the auspicious colour of Rama VI.


References

National mottos National symbols of Cambodia Thai nationalism


See also

* *{{annotated link, Melayu Islam Beraja, Melayu, Islam, Beraja