Burmese flag

The current flag of Burma was adopted on October 21, 2010, replacing the previous flag of socialist origin. The flag consists of three horizontal stripes of yellow, green and red, with a large white star in the middle. On the flag, yellow represents solidarity, green represents peace, tranquility and the country's vegetation, red represents courage and determination, and the star represents the union of the country.

History

Burma Flag between 1948 and 1974.

Burma Flag between 1974 and 2010.

Proposal for the Burmese flag (2006)

The flag originates from the Burmese resistance to the Japanese occupation of World War II. The original flag was officially maintained between 1948 and 1974, when, on the occasion of the proclamation of the Socialist Republic in Burma by Ne Win, a new one was adopted on January 3, 1974. Said flag it was not totally different from the earlier Burmese flag: it had a red field and a blue canton in the upper corner on the mast side. However, the images within the canton were changed to a cogwheel with a bushel of rice superimposed on it. These symbols are socialist and represent workers and farmers. It is surrounded by fourteen five-pointed stars representing the administrative divisions and states of Myanmar. The color white represents purity, blue represents peace and integrity, and red represents courage. It was very similar to the flag of the Republic of China.

On November 10, 2006, a new flag was proposed for the nation. This consisted of three equal horizontal stripes in green, yellow and red, with a white star on the shaft part of the green stripe. Green represented peace, tranquility and the sumptuous green surroundings of the country; yellow represented solidarity; while red represented courage and decision. The star represented "the perpetual existence of the consolidated Union". Finally, the delegates of the National Convention rejected the adoption of this flag. In September 2007 a new flag was proposed, with a larger white star and with the order of the stripes altered. The order chosen was the same as that of the flag of the State of Burma, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan during World War II and which lasted from 1943 to 1945. That flag featured a peacock in the center. The new version of the flag was included in the new constitution, approved in a referendum in 2008. The new constitution, and with it the new flag, came into force with the first meeting of the parliament elected in the 2010 general elections.

Historical flags of Burma

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  Burma Gold Flag (1300-1500)

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  Flag of the Burmese Empire under the Konbaung dynasty (1700-1885)

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  Flag of British Burma as part of British India (1824-1937)

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  Flag of the British Burma as a British Raj colony (1824-1939)

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  Flag of British Burma as a Separate Colony (1939-1943, 1945-1948)

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  Flag of the British Burma (1941-1942)

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  Temporary flag used during the Japanese occupation (1942-1943)

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  Flag of the State of Burma (1943-1945)

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  Flag of the Burmese Union (1948-1974)

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  Flag of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (1974-1988) and the Union of Myanmar (1988-2010)

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  Flag of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (since 2010)

Similar flags

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  The flag of Lithuania

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  The flag of Ghana

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  The flag of Senegal

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  The flag of Ethiopia

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  The flag of Bolivia

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  The flag of Cameroon

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  The flag of Taiwan

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  The flag of Samoa

A green-yellow-red tricolor without stars is used by Lithuania. The 1948-2010 flags are similar to other red flags with a blue canton, such as the flags of Taiwan and Samoa.

Green, yellow, and red are considered the pan-African colors, leading many commentators to note that the new flag looked distinctly "African" and even that she was being confused for the flag of an African country.