The flag of Mon State depicts a

hamsa The ''hamsa'' ( ar, خمسة, khamsa) is a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout North Africa and in the Middle East and commonly used in jewellery and wall hangings.Bernasek et al., 2008p. 12Sonbol, 2005pp. 355–359 Depicting the open right h ...

in the centre of a red background. The current flag was approved by the

Mon State Hluttaw Mon State Hluttaw ( my, မွန်ပြည်နယ်လွှတ်တော်) is the legislature of the Burmese state of Mon State. It is a unicameral body, consisting of 31 members, including 23 elected members and 7 military representati ...

and officially adopted on 8 June 2018. In local legend, the city of Bago, which was founded by the

Mon people The Mon ( mnw, ဂကူမည်; my, မွန်လူမျိုး‌, ; th, มอญ, ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar's Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, the Irrawaddy Delta, and s ...

, was established on the location where a hamsa sought refuge during a massive flood, hence the adoption of the bird on the flag.

Former flag

The former flag of

Mon State Mon State ( my, မွန်ပြည်နယ်, ; mnw, တွဵုရးဍုင်မန်, italics=no) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It lies between Kayin State to the east, the Andaman Sea to the west, Bago Region to the ...

, used until the adoption of the current flag on 8 June 2018, depicted a hamsa on a dark blue background and had "Mon State" () written underneath it. The

flag of Bago Region The flag of Bago Region depicts two golden hamsas, female one sitting on the male's back, on a white circle bordered by green charged at the centre of blue background. The name "Bago Region" () is written in Burmese above the birds. Symbolism ...

is very similar to the former flag of Mon State, but its hamsa and text have different proportions and designs.

References

Mon State Flags of Myanmar

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...

Flags displaying animals {{Asia-flag-stub