Myanmar Political Parties

Free Burma Coalition / National League for Democracy (NLD)

by Jorge Candeias

This flag in known as the "Fighting Peacock" flag.

From: http://: From: http://www.freeburmacoalition.org/old/images.html:

The Free Burma Coalition (FBC) is an umbrella group of campuses and organizations around the world working for freedom and democracy in Burma. Our mission is to build a grassroots movement inspired by and modeled after the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. Our movement stands 100% behind the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD), whom the people have recognized as the sole legitimate leaders of Burma.

At the celebration of the 6th anniversary of the elections in Myanmar (Burma) such flags were carried around, also the heads of NLD were wearing stickers with (apparently) the party's flag.

In the News those flags were shown only very briefly, and I cannot describe it completely. So this may serve as a first approximation:
The flag is plain red with a white (or yellow) five-pointed star near the upper hoist corner. In the center there is a yellow symbol which looked to me like a peacock (which is indeed an old national symbol of Myanmar) looking towards the hoist, its tail not spread. There is more in this central symbol (something circular, outlined in yellow).

Harald Müller, 28 April 1996

Later on, another ferret [Thanh-Tam Le] pointed to a scan of an American magazine article that had a picture of Burmese oppositionists [members of the National League for Democracy] under another flag very similar to the one above. The article states "Gyow is a political refugee from Myanmar, who's lived in Ithaca [New York] since 1993. He is a member of the National League for Democracy, who is fighting the Myanmar militaristic regime. The flag, which features a fighting peacock, is the symbol for the Burmese students who demonstrate against the military regime."

This flag is a 1:2 red flag, with a white star in the canton (a *lot* smaller) and a yellow peacock centered, even more stylized than the first image and with the body within a yellow ring.

This is probably a variant of the NLD flag (possibly the main variant), but the caption of the photo may be interpreted as meaning that this is the flag used by a juvenile organization.

Jorge Candeias, 13 December 1999

Another version of National League for Democracy flag has a smaller star and the letters NLD. Maybe the letters are because the flag is in a demonstration to be reported by Western press.
Francisco Santos, 7 June 2003

• Unofficial NLD web page with a graphic of this flag.

contributed by Ivan Sache

Burmese Path of Socialism, red field with two partially superimposed white stars placed horizontally in canton.

From Encyclopaedia Universalis CD-ROM (1998)

"On 30 April 1962, a document entitled 'The Burmese Path towards Socialism' defined the orientation of the new regime: the problems of the country must be resolved by the creation of a socialist society. the task was given to a 'Party of the Burmese Socialist Program', which status was adopted on 4 July: initially a party of white collars (in fact, those of the Army), they should have transformed progressively into a 'Party of the Whole Nation'. It became unique party only after the law of 28 March 1964, which dissolved all other parties."

Ivan Sache, 6 August 1999

Union Solidarity and Development Association

The Union Solidarity and Development Association was formed on 15 September 1993, and up to 31 July 1999, there have been 16 state and division associations, 63 district-level associations, 320 township-level associations and 14,865 village-tract associations with the total membership of 11,806,009.

The pledge of the Union Solidarity and Development Association is to strengthen the Union of Myanmar, to promote love and understanding among indigenous peoples, to strengthen State sovereignty, to safeguard territorial integrity and to develop the country and to build a peaceful and modern State.

The five objectives of the association are non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity, perpetuation of sovereignty, promotion and vitalization of national honour, and emergence of a peaceful, prosperous and modern Union.
Jaume Ollé, 17 March 2003

The flag of this organization was seen in the New York Times, 12 March 2003, where a photo of a billboard in Myanmar/Burma was shown in which a figure is
holding a flag (it is to the viewer's left of the national flag). The flag is blue [or possibly green], with a red canton which bears a white star.
Al Kirsch, 12 March 2003

The flag is green with a red canton.
Dean McGee, 12 March 2003