Traditional paste gives new look to Myanmar protests

There was a new look to anti-coup demonstrations in Myanmar on Thursday, with protestors across the country smearing a traditional yellow paste on their faces, as a proclamation of their national identity. Outside the Hledan Centre in Yangon, where around a thousand gathered to keep up pressure on the new military regime, protestors wore the mixture, called thanaka, in broad swathes on their foreheads, cheeks and down their noses.

Some had slogans written into the designs. Thanaka, is made from pulverized tree bark. It is said to be good for the skin and to protect from sunburn. It is ubiquitous in Myanmar and is as much a symbol of its culture as the sarong-like longyi skirt or the Shwedagon temple. One protestor in Yangon said they were thanaka was a way to keep their struggle in the spotlight.