YANGON - MILITARY-RULED Myanmar unveiled a new national flag on Thursday, just two weeks before an election that the government calls a major step in a transition to democracy but critics say is a sham.

Government offices replaced the old standard with the new one at exactly 3pm (4.30pm Singapore time) At a fire station in central Yangon, blue-uniformed officers lined up at attention during the replacement ceremony.

The new flag has horizontal stripes of yellow, green and red with a big white star in the middle.

The announcement of the new flag was made on state television just prior to the ceremonies, which were supposed to take place simultaneously all over the country.

'We received the instruction to bring down the old flag and to fly the new flag at 3pm,' said an education officer in Pathein township in Irrawaddy Division, who added that shortly before the ceremony his office still had not received its replacement.

The 2008 constitution pushed through by the military called for fresh national symbols, including a new flag whose colors of yellow, green and red would stand for solidarity, peace and tranquility, and courage and decisiveness. Still, the abrupt release of the new flag came as surprise.