from red to sky blue and adding the party logo to the centre. Regarding the change, U Han Shwe of the party's central committee (who later became the party's chairman in 2021) said, "We have traditionally used a red flag with three stars to represent the party. However, the colour of our party has always been sky blue, so now we are changing [the flag] to that colour. In the new flag, the party's logo is included.... Previously we had to explain that the red flag with three stars was our party flag. Now that the logo has been added to the flag, it is clear that this is the flag of the National Unity Party." The current flag of NUP is a sky blue field with three white stars charged in the upper hoist and the party logo charged in the centre. Its proportion is 5:9. The first white star in the upper hoist honours the "resistance flag" used by the anti-Japanese resistance movement in Burma during World War II and now a symbol of Burmese national liberation. The second white star in the upper hoist represents efforts by the Burmese to build a socialist society. The third white star in the upper hoist symbolises the reconstruction of national unity between Myanmar's ethnic groups. The sky blue background represents nobility, steadiness, peace, calm, and development. The stars' white colour symbolises purity, steadiness, righteousness, and loyalty. In the party logo, the paddy ears and pinion represent peasants, workers, and the Burmese nation itself, while the fourteen equal-sized white stars symbolise the unity and equality of Myanmar's fourteen states and regions. Chairmanship The party's first chairman was U Thar Kyaw, a former member of the Council of State, a former minister and a former soldier who had joined the Tatmadaw in World War II, when it was known as the Burma Independence Army. U Thar Kyaw died on 9 May 2005, and the party's general secretary U Tun Yi, formerly the Deputy Commander of the Tatmadaw, succeeded. U Tun Yi died on 4 April 2014. The general secretary U Than Tin, a former brigadier general from the army, the former minister of the Ministry of Mines, a former deputy prime minister during the socialist period and a writer, became the party chairman on 30 April 2014. U Than Tin died on 14 January 2021 and vice-chairman U Han Shwe was elected