The Story Behind The Name Of The White Elephant Game

While thinking about the number of people who have never even heard of the White Elephant game, an interesting thought - or rather a question, if you will – occurred to me: how did this fantastic trading game get its name?

Does it have something to do with remembering the gifts and who gave what and to whom did they give it to? What I'm referring to here is the “memory like an elephant” idiom. Is it perhaps because elephants are so valuable, meaning that we have to cherish each and every gift that circles around during the game?

After doing some research, I realized that the answer is, in fact, a big, fat “nope” and that the name actually derives from an old legend that originated in Siam (Thailand). One legend associated with Buddha says that the night before his mother Maya gave birth to him, she dreamed of an albino elephant giving her a pure lotus flower. This led to white elephants being treated as sacred animals in Siam, hence making them the property of the King of Siam. Since they were sacred, white elephants weren’t allowed to do any work. By the order of the king, they had to be well-cared of and being the humongous animals that they are, they required a tremendous amount of resources to maintain.

Now comes the tricky part – if the King of Siam was pleased with one of his courtiers, he would give them a white elephant, as well as money, land and servants to take care of the animal. On the other hand, if the King was displeased with one of his courtiers, he would give them a white elephant without the land or money required to care for it. Forced to maintain these elephants, these people would soon end up financially ruined and, what’s even more important, dishonored and shunned by the entire community.

That’s how white elephants became associated with the term “to receive an unwanted gift” and even though the gifts that you receive while participating in the game today will not drive you to financial ruin, some may end up being pretty much unwanted, like the white elephants of Siam.

Oh, on a side note, white elephants are still sacred in Thailand and yes, they still belong to the King of Thailand. It’s just that they gave up on the tradition of gifting white elephants to people to show them any kind of disfavor. They mostly carry around gold Buddha statues and Buddha is probably quite content with the decision. After all, who wouldn’t want to ride those gentle giants through the streets of Bangkok from time to time?