This article considers the military and civil orders, decorations and medals of Burma.
This award (Burmese: လွတ်လပ်ရေး မော်ကွန်းဝင် (ပထမဆင့်၊ ဒုတိယဆင့်၊ တတိယဆင့်)) was for participation in both military and civil struggles of Burma's independence. This award is granted for service in three different periods:
Participants in all three periods were awarded the First Class, participants in only two periods received the second class and participants in only in one period were awarded the third class. The provision of this award can be passed down to direct heirs of the original participant and to be worn, multi-generationally, in this fashion similar to the awards bestowed by the ancient Myanmar kings to their loyal subjects. It was established in 1953 and the last Independence Mawgunwin Title (First, Second and Third Classes) was awarded on 24 November 1986.
Instituted in 1948, the Aung San Thuriya (အောင်ဆန်းသူရိယဘွဲ့) medal is the highest recognition for valour and gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the Myanmar Armed Forces of any ranks in any services. This is the highest military award in Myanmar and it is equivalent to British Victoria Cross and German Knight Cross of the Iron Cross.
The decoration is a one and half inch (3.8 cm) stainless steel stylized sun of sixteen rays. Suspended by an integral straight bar suspender. The name of the recipient name and year of award is engraved on the reverse and the sun was held by two ribbons.
To this day, there have only been 6 Aung San Thuriya medals has been awarded and only one of the recipient is civilian. The recipients are:
The decoration is a bronze stylized Burmese lion, with the name of the decoration written in Burmese "Thiha Thura" (သီဟသူရ) on the scroll below. The ribbon is 1.25 inches (32 mm), bright red with yellow edges or red with dark green centre stripes.
A total of 46 Thiha Thura Medals has been awarded between 1949 and 2003.
A silver depiction of a stylized rising sun with the central sun in red enamel. The ribbon is 32 mm, bright red with yellow edges and a yellow center stripe.