Myanmar’s national flag consists of horizontal yellow, green, and red stripes with a large white five-pointed star in the center.
The current flag was adopted on October 21, 2010, replacing the older design used since the socialist era. Its three colors echo the yellow, green, and red tricolors used by Burmese nationalist and independence movements during the struggle against British rule. The star was added as a central symbol of the union.
The colors also have official symbolic meanings: yellow represents unity and wisdom, green suggests fertility, peace, and the country’s verdant landscape, and red represents courage. The white star is associated with purity, honesty, compassion, and power.
A common mix-up is with Lithuania or Ethiopia, whose flags also use yellow, green, and red. Myanmar is distinguished by the large white star placed over the stripes. The flag’s official proportions are 2:3.