The pyinsarupa is a chimeric animal of Burmese mythology whose name, from the Pali pañcarūpa, means “five forms.” It is said to be joined from parts of an elephant, a bullock, a horse, a white carp and the tonaya, a horned mythical dragon; another version makes it a lion, an elephant, a water buffalo, a white carp and a hamsa. It commonly features in traditional Burmese hsaing waing orchestras.
The pyinsarupa also serves as the emblem of Myanmar’s flag carrier, Myanmar Airways International. That an impossible hybrid sewn from disparate beasts should become instead a familiar cultural emblem connects to our world’s sense of sealing incongruous things into one body.