Why Bhutan's Leaders are Called Thunder Dragon Kings

Bhutan, a land of beautiful temples, abundant nature, and commonly dubbed the country with the world’s happiest people. There’s a lot to love about Bhutan, but one thing that has always stood out to me is the title used for Bhutan’s monarchy, which is really unique compared to other countries.

In Dzongkha, the official language of Bhutan, the nation’s reigning monarchs are called Druk Gyalpo. This translates into Thunder Dragon King, the Bhutanese head of state’s official title.

And I’m not gonna lie, you really can’t have a cooler name for a head of state than Thunder Dragon King, it soundly beats out my second favorite name for a modern head of state, which is Supreme Leader.

But that’s not the only name in Bhutan with connections to a mythical thunder dragon. A lot of names in Bhutan also share this motif, each referencing the same thunder dragon displayed on Bhutan’s flag. In fact, the name for Bhutan itself in Dzongkha is Druk Yul, or “Land of the Thunder Dragon”, and followers of the sect of Tibetan Buddhism that became Bhutan’s official religion refer to themselves as the Drukpa, which can either be translated as Dragon People or Those of the Thunder, which again is just... so cool.

Sources and further reading:
https://www.pbs.org/edens/bhutan/Bhu_...
https://www.handmadeexpo.com/client/i...
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-wa...
https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_ar...
The Royal Semi-Authoritarian Democracy of Bhutan(book)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzongpen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyalwan...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhabdru...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je_Khenpo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngawang...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druk_Desi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugyen_W...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven_C...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_N...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigme_K...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druk_Gy...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyalwan...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsangpa...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drukpa_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralung_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblem_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druk