As Myanmar prepares to vote in only its third election in 50 years, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party faces a challenge that seems at odds with her global celebrity: brand recognition.
“I’m worried that some people think that this represents our party,” says May Win Myint, a candidate in her National League for Democracy (NLD), pointing to the logo of the rival National Democratic Force (NDF).
Its dominant feature is the traditional bamboo hat worn by Myanmar’s farmers and widely associated with Aung San Suu Kyi loyalists.
Win Myint, a medical doctor and formerly one of Myanmar’s longest-serving female political prisoners, must also contend with confusion generated by another rival: the New National Democracy Party, whose logo has not one, but three bamboo hats.
Myanmar’s vote today, in which only 45 of more than 1,000 seats in the national legislature will be contested, is more than a test of its nascent democratic credentials. It also suggests that a vibrant political scene is emerging.
The actual logo of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party is a yellow fighting peacock and white star against a red background.
Other parties have similar logos and names.
The symbol of the Mon National Democracy Party is also, at first glance, a yellow fighting peacock on a red background, but it is in fact a mythical bird called a hintha.
Nor is the NLD the only party with a star in its logo. Eight other parties have one or more, while The Democracy Party (Myanmar) has stars and a peacock.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s main rival is the Union Development and Solidarity Party (USDP), which was created by the military junta that jailed or detained her for a total of 15 years.
It features a mythical lion-like creature called a chinthe, which appears on Myanmar’s currency, the kyat.
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