Hti

Hti (Burmese: ထီး; MLCTS: hti:, IPA: [tʰí]; Mon: ဍိုၚ် [daŋ]; Shan: ထီး

In pre-colonial Burma, the hti was an indicator of social status and used exclusively by those who were granted express permission to do so. The white umbrella or hti byu (ထီးဖြူ ) was one of the five articles of coronation regalia (မင်းမြောက်တန်ဆာ , Min Myauk Taza).

Use and possession of a white umbrella was limited exclusively to the Burmese king and his chief queen, while the highest officials (wun, ဝန် ) and royal princes (including the Crown Prince or Uparaja) possessed golden umbrellas and lower-level officials possessed red umbrellas, if any.

The white umbrella was a sign of sovereignty. Indeed, use of a white umbrella by any persons other than the king and his chief queen was regarded as a declaration of rebellion, punishable with immediate execution. At the death of the king, the white umbrellas in his possession were broken. The white umbrella was also permitted for religious usage. For instance, The Mahamuni Buddha was formerly shaded by a white umbrella.

The umbrellas were embellished inside and out with pictures of sylphs and fairies in gold, thin gold plates shaped like banyan leaves fastened to the top, and handles of gold adorned with pearls, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, corals and with spangles. The umbrella used by the king when riding an elephant or travelling by carriage was called a yin hti.

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