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White elephants are only nominally white - they often look dish-brown in the sun, and light pink when wet. They can look similar to other elephants except for certain features like fair eyelashes and toenails,light-colored hair or a reddish hue to the skin.

The term derives from the sacred white elephants kept by Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand[1], Laos and Cambodia. To possess a white elephant was regarded (and is still regarded in Thailand and Burma) as a sign that the monarch reigned with justice and power, and that the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity. The tradition derives from tales which associate a white elephant with the birth of Buddha, as his mother was reputed to have dreamed of a white elephant presenting her with a lotus flower, a symbol of wisdom and purity, on the eve of giving birth.[2] Because the animals were considered sacred and laws protected them from labor, receiving a gift of a white elephant from a monarch was simultaneously both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because the animal was sacred and a sign of the monarch's favour, and a curse because the animal had to be retained and could not be put to much practical use, at least to offset the cost of maintaining it.The Order of the White Elephant consists of eight grades of medals issued by the government of Thailand.

White elephant