trah lohkhen tamruat (ตราโล่เขนตำรวจ)

Thai. ‘Police Shield Badge’. Name of the official seal of the Royal Thai Police. It consists of a sword and shield decorated with the face of a yak or singh, amidst a pattern of flowers or kranok motifs, though it is not limited to particular detail and hence can be variable, also in size and colour. The face on the shield is separately referred to as Jaturamuk, as in the past a similar kala (fig.) or kirtimukha-like face (fig.) was carved on the four porticos of a prasat hin, in the flour cardinal directions, with the belief that it protected the palace against evil entering from either direction (fig.). In the reign of King Rama IV (fig.), when the police force was initially being established as an organizational structure, its symbol was the image of Hanuman with four arms, known Hanuman sih kon (fig.). Later, King Rama V authorized the provincial police department to use the image of the Phra Saeng, i.e. the ‘Sword of Victory’, which is one of the Thai royal regalia (kakuttapan) and symbolizes the King's power over the army and his role as protector of the nation, in combination with a shield. The current trah lohkhen tamruat sword and shield was first designed in 1897 by Prince Momchao Prawich Chumsai (ประวิช ชุมสาย), who in 1873 also designed the royal seal known as trah phaen din, which is still used today as the coat of arms of the Royal Thai Police and appears in its full form on the hats (fig.) and helmets (fig.) of all police officers. The trah lohkhen tamruat sword and shield seal first became the badge of the Department of Patrol, which later became the Metropolitan Police Department, and when on 13 October 1915, during the reign of King Rama VI, the Metropolitan and Provincial police departments merged, it became the seal for the entire Royal Thai Police force. See also TRAVEL PICTURES (1) and (2), and THEMATIC STREET LANTERN. 回