The seal of the Lao people's democratic republic (this image taken from a banknote) combines representations of those things necessary to a prosperous country. The curving rice stalks border the six symbols of a productive proletariat - That Louang is religion, the rice fields on the right - agriculture. The gear cog in the foreground is industry and the dam on the center left is energy while the road running through it shows transport. Older banknotes show a hammer and sickle along with a star in place of the Wat, perhaps showing the more relaxed and less dogmatic climate in Laos today.