The Four White Umbrellas
The four white umbrellas are the tiered white standards that the Burmese chronicles place among the regalia of the first kings of the Bagan and later dynasties, emblems of the right to rule granted from above. In the creation tale of kingship, the story of Thagya Min and the first king, the white umbrella is the mark of the king chosen by heaven, and the number of umbrellas carried over a ruler marked his rank, with the great white umbrella of the king symbolizing the highest authority. The image of the king as the bearer of the white umbrella survives in the Hmannan Yazawin chronicle and in t