Nano-sized MgO single crystal powders have recently been reported to emit ultraviolet by stimulation of electrons in a vacuum. In this study, nanocrystalline MgO powders were applied to a xenon plasma flat fluorescent lamp (FFL) for a liquid crystal display backlight to improve its emission efficiency through the extra ultraviolet from the nano-MgO crystals. For comparison, a MgO nano-thin film was applied directly on the phosphors inside a lamp panel through e-beam evaporation. Adding MgO nano-crystal powders to the phosphors improved the luminance and efficiency of FFLs by around 20% and MgO nano-crystal coverage of 40% of the phosphor provided the best FFL emission characteristics; however, application of MgO thin film to the phosphors degraded the emission characteristics, even compared to FFLs without MgO. This was due to insufficient ultraviolet stimulation of the phosphors and the crystallinity and low secondary electron coefficient of the MgO.