Burma's military-backed government has honoured the father of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, democracy leader General Aung San, and eight of the country's other slain independence heroes.

Analysts say the official Martyr's Day ceremony underscores the political changes sweeping the country.

Vice president Sai Mauk Kham led the memorial for the nine men, who were killed by political rivals in July 1947 -- They were holding a meeting as part of their struggle to win independence from Britain at the time.

The high-level presence at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in the former capital marked a departure from recent years when the Yangon mayor was the official representative at low-key ceremonies to mark the anniversary.

The event was broadcast live on state television and drew a significant crowd.

Noble spirit

After the ceremony, Ms Suu Kyi paid homage at the mausoleum with three baskets of flowers, followed by relatives of the other late independence heroes as well as diplomats and members of the public.

Later she addressed supporters at her party offices, calling on youth members to embrace the spirit of the martyrs.

"The martyr spirit is a noble spirit. We should respect the martyr leaders in order to increase the noble spirit of our country," she said.

The veteran dissident, who spent much of the last two decades under house arrest and was released in late 2010, last year attended the remembrance ceremony for the first time in nine years.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was only two years old when she lost her father, who is widely hailed as the architect of Myanmar's liberation from British rule but who died a year before the colonial era ended in 1948.

Often referred to simply as Bogyoke, or General, Aung San remains a potent symbol of pride in Myanmar, but for years his image was rarely seen in public under a junta anxious not to draw attention to its incarceration of Ms Suu Kyi.

Pictures of the father and daughter are now widely seen in one of the most visible signs of change under the reformist regime.

ABC/AFP