According to Nguyen Van Tien, the designer of the logo, its highlight is the Thai ethnic minority people’s stilt houses with "Khau cut” on the rooftop - their indispensable spiritual symbol. The coulours of the logo also carry their own meanings: the red represents the power of solidarity, while yellow shows prosperity.
The traditional house of the Black Thai people has the shape of a turtle, originating from the belief of Thai people on God Turtle - the legendary god who taught Thai people how to make a house shaped like a standing turtle so that they could avoid wild animals and floods.
On the rooftop of the houses is Khau cut, which is two wooden slats decorated cross each other.
The "Khau cut” appears in many different versions, with the simplest one being two crossed bamboo sticks, which aim to protect the roof against strong wind.
Legend has it that the Thai people tended to go seeking the promised land. They often left at the end of the lunar month, looking at the crescent moon and promising each other that anyone who reached a new land would build a house and put the symbol of crescent moon on the top of the roof so that their descendants could recognise each other. The thing with the shape of a crescent moon in the legend is Khau cut, which is seen in all Thai stilt houses today.
Nghia Lo is the second largest Muong Lo field in the northwestern region, which owns unique cultural values. The legends of Ban flower, Thia stream, and Pieu scarf have brought to Nghia Lo the beauty of epics and legends, contributing to the longevity of the land that is rich in cultural traditions.
Along with the logo, the design of Nghia Lo town's tourism icon also shows the locality’s friendliness, hospitality and efforts to rise up to become worthy of being selected as the tourist centre of the western region of Yen Bai.
The image of the roof on stilt houses carries the meaning of 21 ethnic groups in Nghia Lo town uniting under a common roof, living together, building Nghia Lo towns into a prosperous land with the strong traditional identity, creating a brand of "Nghia Lo" on tourism maps or search engines on the internet.
The roof of the stilt house also features the shape of the Hoang Lien Son range, representing the typical terrain with mountains surrounding the vast Muong Lo valley. The image of the gentle Thia stream, which nourishes the fertile Muong Lo fields, nurtures the cultural sources flowing from the legendary origin and blended in the circle of immortality and prosperity.
The 5-petaled Ban (Bauhinia) flower placed in the middle of the logo represents the beauty of the land of white Ban flowers, also the beauty of the faithful and loyal Nghia Lo people. The two words "Nghia Lo" are clearly engraved in the logo, representing the strong and sustainable development of the locality, as well as the will and determination of the local Party Committee, administration and residents of Nghia Lo in the building of the locality with comprehensive development.
Minh Quang
