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The nation, religion and the monarchy are three main pillars of the Thai state, our ancestors used these concepts for shaping this country for a long time. The national principles and their respective institutions should not be used as political tools for any factions to fight their opponents.

The three state concepts of Thailand are displayed in the tricolour national flag. Symbols of the nation on the flag have changed time to time but the current one is to show three main pillars of state: red for the nation, white for religions and blue for the monarchy.

Normally, the national flag has its own specific function to symbolise country's identity. There is also a certain protocol with solid legal backup to display the flag. For example, the flag should never be flown up-side-down and we always display the flag with pride.

People in a modern state identify themselves with their national flag. We find that a lot of group tours display their national flags when they are abroad to show they are in the same group to help keep people together while travelling.    

Unfortunately, some people here use the national symbol as a political tool to fight each other. The anti-Thaksin Shinawatra camp kicked this off again a couple of weeks ago by pointing out that the national flag with Thaksin's name on it was displayed at the Manchester City stadium was a defamation of the country's honour.

Mass media has broadened the issue with headlines as if the case was a serious crime against humanity. Social activists rushed to file lawsuits against Thaksin while the opposition raised a motion in Parliament to grill the government for its ignorance over the matter.

Thaksin's camp retaliatedlast week accusing its opponents of also using and modifying the national flag for their own purposes without showing respect for a key symbol of our national identity.

Members of the People Power Party filed a lawsuit against the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and its allies. The complaint was seized on with pictures showing a PAD protester last year using the national flag to cover her breast. Another similar example it gave regarding Thaksin's case was when the names of key members of the PAD also appeared on the national flag when they used the flag to decorate a stage for a panel discussion in another country.

Legally speaking, modifying and using the national flag for improper purposes, putting any individual's name on it, using it as clothing or other any decoration is unlawful under the National Flag Law. It sounds conservative but the law is aimed at placing the national flag in high regard for all citizens to respect. Making some adjustment on the flag and using it for decoration does not hurt the nation's honour. If people in this country really take offence to anyone touching the flag, we will end up clogging up the courts with nonsense cases.

Many people love to use a national flag for fashionable purposes, or to show they have a close affiliation with the country. Such behaviour is usually to show their goodwill toward the country. People in other countries also like to use their respective national flags to decorate or even dress in the flag colours. It is used in sports stadiums to identify national teams just as much as during street protests. No one could regard such actions as a national threat.

Obviously, both Thaksin's associates and his rivals have no subversive intention to insult the national flag when they use it to express their views on different occasions. But the lawsuits they have filed against each other are cause for concern as they are using the flag as a political tool to score points against each other.

No one is better than the other, no one can claim that only their group is the national guardian classing their opponents as the national enemy. The two political rivals claim they are acting to protect the nation's integrity but in reality, they are using our national symbol for their own political gain, not for the national interest.