Flag of Vietnam
Encyclopedia
The flag of Vietnam
, also known as the "red flag with yellow star" (cờ đỏ sao vàng), was designed in 1940 and used during an uprising against French rule in Cochinchina
that year. The flag was used by the Việt Minh
, a communist-led organization created in 1941 to oppose Japanese occupation. At the end of World War II
, Việt Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh
proclaimed Vietnam independent and signed a decree on September 5, 1945 adopting the Việt Minh flag as the flag of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The DRV became the government of North Vietnam in 1954 following the Geneva Accords
. The flag was modified on November 30, 1955 to make the edges of the star sharper. The red background was inspired by the flag of the communist party, which in turn honors the red flag
of the Paris Commune
of 1871. It symbolizes revolution and blood. The five-pointed yellow star represents the unity of workers, peasants, intellectuals, youths and soldiers in building socialism. Until Saigon was captured
in 1975, South Vietnam used a yellow flag with three red stripes. The red flag of North Vietnam became the flag of a united Vietnam when the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was formed in 1976.
The flag has a red background with a five-pointed yellow star in the center. It was first used in the "Southern Uprising" (Nam Kỳ Khởi nghĩa) of November 23, 1940 against French rule in Cochinchina
. Writer Sơn Tùng, whose research was published in the official press in 1981, found that the flag was designed by Nguyễn Hữu Tiến, a leader of the uprising who was born in the northern village of Lũng Xuyên. Hồ is said to have reproduced the flag based on sketchy radio reports of the uprising. Tiến, who was arrested by the French in advance of the failed uprising and executed Aug. 28, 1941, was unknown to the Vietnamese public before Tùng's research was published. The red background represents blood while the yellow foreground represents "the color of our race’s skin," according to a poem Tiến wrote. The five points of the star represent intellectuals, peasants, workers, traders and soldiers. Tiến's poem reads in part:
In April 2001, Vietnam's Ministry of Culture reported that there was no documentation to support the claim that Tiến designed the flag. In 2005, Lê Minh Đức, an official of Tiền Giang province, suggested that the flag was designed by another cadre, Lê Quang Sô, a native of Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong delta
. Đức's theory is based on statements by Sô's son as well as Sô's 1968 memoir. According to Đức, yellow was chosen to represent Vietnam while the red background was inspired by the flag of the Communist Party and represents revolution. Such red backgrounds are characteristic of the flags of Communist nations and honor the Red Flag
flown by the Paris Commune
of 1871. Sô experimented with stars in various positions and sizes before choosing a large star in the center for aesthetic reasons. In April 1940, the flag was approved by Phan Văn Khỏe, the Communist party chief of Mỹ Tho. It was subsequently approved by the national party in July. The official press has not commented on Đức's version of events, but has published material reiterating the view that Tiến designed the flag.
The flag was displayed at a conference on May 19, 1941 at which the Việt Minh
was founded. The Việt Minh
proclaimed its flag a "national flag" on August 16, 1945 at a meeting held in the village of Tân Trào in the North. When the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II
, the Việt Minh
entered Hanoi
and proclaimed the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam" on September 2. On September 5, DRV President Hồ signed a decree adopting the Vietminh flag. French troops returned in October and restored colonial rule in the South. The National Assembly voted unanimously to adopt the flag on March 2, 1946. Following the Geneva Accord
between Việt Minh
and France in 1954, the DRV became the government of North Vietnam. On November 30, 1955, the flag's design was modified slightly to make the star smaller and its edges straighter. This followed a similar modification of the Flag of the Soviet Union
. The flag was adopted in the South after the North Vietnamese army overran Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, on April 30, 1975. North and South were unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976.
wearing yellow turbans during their revolt against China in AD 40. These were unwrapped and waved to signal the beginning of fight. A yellow banner with a red circle in the center was adopted as a standard by Emperor Gia Long
(r. 1802–1820). This standard was used by supporters of the anti-French Cần Vương
, or "Save the king", movement in 1885, effectively making it Vietnam's first national flag. Emperor Thành Thái
's flag, adopted in 1890, had a yellow background and three red stripes (cờ vàng ba sọc đỏ). The three stripes represented the Quẻ Càn, or Qian trigram
, one of eight trigrams used in the I-Ching, a Taoist scripture. Quẻ Càn is the divination sign for heaven. Later, the stripes were reinterpreted to represent the northern, central and southern regions of Vietnam.
The French, who gradually gained control of Vietnam in the late 19th century, flew the Tricolour
, the French national flag. As the colony of Cochinchina
(1864–1945), the South was under exclusive French authority. In contrast, North and Central Vietnam were protectorates with parallel systems of Vietnamese and French administration. Several flags were flown in these regions: the French flag, the Vietnamese imperial flag, and a "protectorate flag." From 1920 to 1945, the Vietnamese imperial flag had a yellow background with a single, broad red stripe.
Japan occupied Vietnam in 1941-1945. In March 1945, the Japanese deposed the French colonial authorities and proclaimed an Empire of Vietnam
with Bảo Đại
as emperor. The Quẻ Ly Flag, also a red trigram on a yellow background, was adopted in June. Among other things, Quẻ Ly symbolizes the direction south. Bảo Đại abdicated in August when Japan surrendered. The French returned in October 1945, but were challenged by the Vietminh, especially in the North. The French proclaimed Cochinchina a republic in June 1946. This puppet state adopted a Quẻ Càn flag with blue stripes on a yellow background.
In May 1948, the name of the Cochinchina government was changed to "Provisional Central Government of Vietnam" in preparation for a merger with the North outlined in the Hạ Long Bay agreements between France and Bảo Đại. Artist Lê Văn Đệ (1906–1966) met Bảo Đại in Hong Kong in 1948 and proposed that the Quẻ Càn flag of Emperor Thành Thái be restored. On 2 June 1948, Chief of State Nguyễn Văn Xuân
, signed an ordinance to adopt this flag: "The national emblem is a flag of yellow background, the height of which is equal to two-thirds of its width. In the middle of the flag and along its entire width, there are three horizontal red bands. Each band has a height equal to one-fifteenth of the width. These three red bands are separated from one another by a space of the band's height." This flag was used in the South until 1975. It continues to be used by overseas Vietnamese as the "Heritage and Freedom Flag", but is de facto banned in Vietnam.
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, also known as the "red flag with yellow star" (cờ đỏ sao vàng), was designed in 1940 and used during an uprising against French rule in Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
that year. The flag was used by the Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
, a communist-led organization created in 1941 to oppose Japanese occupation. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Việt Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
proclaimed Vietnam independent and signed a decree on September 5, 1945 adopting the Việt Minh flag as the flag of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The DRV became the government of North Vietnam in 1954 following the Geneva Accords
Geneva accords
The Geneva Accords, known formally as the agreements on the settlement of the situation relating to Afghanistan, were signed on 14 April 1988 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the United States and the Soviet Union serving as guarantors....
. The flag was modified on November 30, 1955 to make the edges of the star sharper. The red background was inspired by the flag of the communist party, which in turn honors the red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
of the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
of 1871. It symbolizes revolution and blood. The five-pointed yellow star represents the unity of workers, peasants, intellectuals, youths and soldiers in building socialism. Until Saigon was captured
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
in 1975, South Vietnam used a yellow flag with three red stripes. The red flag of North Vietnam became the flag of a united Vietnam when the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was formed in 1976.
Design
"The National Flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is rectangular in shape, its width is equal to two thirds of its length, in the middle of fresh red background is a bright five-pointed golden star," according to the 1992 constitution.The flag has a red background with a five-pointed yellow star in the center. It was first used in the "Southern Uprising" (Nam Kỳ Khởi nghĩa) of November 23, 1940 against French rule in Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
. Writer Sơn Tùng, whose research was published in the official press in 1981, found that the flag was designed by Nguyễn Hữu Tiến, a leader of the uprising who was born in the northern village of Lũng Xuyên. Hồ is said to have reproduced the flag based on sketchy radio reports of the uprising. Tiến, who was arrested by the French in advance of the failed uprising and executed Aug. 28, 1941, was unknown to the Vietnamese public before Tùng's research was published. The red background represents blood while the yellow foreground represents "the color of our race’s skin," according to a poem Tiến wrote. The five points of the star represent intellectuals, peasants, workers, traders and soldiers. Tiến's poem reads in part:
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- ... All those of red blood and yellow skin
- Together we fight under the nation’s sacred flag
- The flag is soaked with our crimson blood, shed for the nation
- The yellow star is the colour of our race’s skin
- Stand up, quickly! The nation’s soul is calling for us
- Intellectuals, peasants, workers, traders and armymen
- United as a five-pointed yellow star...
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In April 2001, Vietnam's Ministry of Culture reported that there was no documentation to support the claim that Tiến designed the flag. In 2005, Lê Minh Đức, an official of Tiền Giang province, suggested that the flag was designed by another cadre, Lê Quang Sô, a native of Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
. Đức's theory is based on statements by Sô's son as well as Sô's 1968 memoir. According to Đức, yellow was chosen to represent Vietnam while the red background was inspired by the flag of the Communist Party and represents revolution. Such red backgrounds are characteristic of the flags of Communist nations and honor the Red Flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
flown by the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
of 1871. Sô experimented with stars in various positions and sizes before choosing a large star in the center for aesthetic reasons. In April 1940, the flag was approved by Phan Văn Khỏe, the Communist party chief of Mỹ Tho. It was subsequently approved by the national party in July. The official press has not commented on Đức's version of events, but has published material reiterating the view that Tiến designed the flag.
The flag was displayed at a conference on May 19, 1941 at which the Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
was founded. The Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
proclaimed its flag a "national flag" on August 16, 1945 at a meeting held in the village of Tân Trào in the North. When the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
entered Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
and proclaimed the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam" on September 2. On September 5, DRV President Hồ signed a decree adopting the Vietminh flag. French troops returned in October and restored colonial rule in the South. The National Assembly voted unanimously to adopt the flag on March 2, 1946. Following the Geneva Accord
Geneva Accord
The Geneva Initiative, also known as the Geneva Accord, is a model permanent status agreement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on previous official negotiations, international resolutions, the Quartet Roadmap, the Clinton Parameters, and the Arab Peace Initiative...
between Việt Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
and France in 1954, the DRV became the government of North Vietnam. On November 30, 1955, the flag's design was modified slightly to make the star smaller and its edges straighter. This followed a similar modification of the Flag of the Soviet Union
Flag of the Soviet Union
The flag of the Soviet Union consisted of a plain red flag, with a setting or cross-peen hammer crossed with a sickle and a red star in the upper canton...
. The flag was adopted in the South after the North Vietnamese army overran Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, on April 30, 1975. North and South were unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976.
Historical flags
Traditional images show the Trưng sistersTrung Sisters
The Trưng sisters were leaders who rebelled against Chinese rule for three years, and are regarded as national heroines of Vietnam. Their names are Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị ....
wearing yellow turbans during their revolt against China in AD 40. These were unwrapped and waved to signal the beginning of fight. A yellow banner with a red circle in the center was adopted as a standard by Emperor Gia Long
Gia Long
Emperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam...
(r. 1802–1820). This standard was used by supporters of the anti-French Cần Vương
Can Vuong
The Cần Vương movement was a large-scale Vietnamese insurgency between 1885 and 1889 against French colonial rule. Its objective was to expel the French and install the boy emperor Hàm Nghi as the leader of an independent Vietnam...
, or "Save the king", movement in 1885, effectively making it Vietnam's first national flag. Emperor Thành Thái
Thanh Thai
Emperor Thành Thái of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty was born Prince Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân, son of Emperor Duc Duc. He reigned for 18 years, from 1889 to 1907.-Biography:...
's flag, adopted in 1890, had a yellow background and three red stripes (cờ vàng ba sọc đỏ). The three stripes represented the Quẻ Càn, or Qian trigram
King Wen sequence
The King Wen sequence is an arrangement of the sixty-four divination figures in 易經 Yì Jīng, the I Ching or Book of Changes. They are called hexagrams in English because each figure is composed of six 爻 yáo—broken or unbroken lines, that represent 陰 yin or 陽 yang respectively.The King Wen sequence...
, one of eight trigrams used in the I-Ching, a Taoist scripture. Quẻ Càn is the divination sign for heaven. Later, the stripes were reinterpreted to represent the northern, central and southern regions of Vietnam.
Tricolour
A tricolour is a flag or banner more-or-less equally divided into three bands of differing colours...
, the French national flag. As the colony of Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
(1864–1945), the South was under exclusive French authority. In contrast, North and Central Vietnam were protectorates with parallel systems of Vietnamese and French administration. Several flags were flown in these regions: the French flag, the Vietnamese imperial flag, and a "protectorate flag." From 1920 to 1945, the Vietnamese imperial flag had a yellow background with a single, broad red stripe.
Japan occupied Vietnam in 1941-1945. In March 1945, the Japanese deposed the French colonial authorities and proclaimed an Empire of Vietnam
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the whole of Vietnam between March 11 and August 23, 1945.-History:...
with Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
as emperor. The Quẻ Ly Flag, also a red trigram on a yellow background, was adopted in June. Among other things, Quẻ Ly symbolizes the direction south. Bảo Đại abdicated in August when Japan surrendered. The French returned in October 1945, but were challenged by the Vietminh, especially in the North. The French proclaimed Cochinchina a republic in June 1946. This puppet state adopted a Quẻ Càn flag with blue stripes on a yellow background.
In May 1948, the name of the Cochinchina government was changed to "Provisional Central Government of Vietnam" in preparation for a merger with the North outlined in the Hạ Long Bay agreements between France and Bảo Đại. Artist Lê Văn Đệ (1906–1966) met Bảo Đại in Hong Kong in 1948 and proposed that the Quẻ Càn flag of Emperor Thành Thái be restored. On 2 June 1948, Chief of State Nguyễn Văn Xuân
Nguyen Van Xuan
Nguyễn Văn Xuân was President of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam from 1948 to 1949 during the end of French rule in Vietnam.-First Indochina War:...
, signed an ordinance to adopt this flag: "The national emblem is a flag of yellow background, the height of which is equal to two-thirds of its width. In the middle of the flag and along its entire width, there are three horizontal red bands. Each band has a height equal to one-fifteenth of the width. These three red bands are separated from one another by a space of the band's height." This flag was used in the South until 1975. It continues to be used by overseas Vietnamese as the "Heritage and Freedom Flag", but is de facto banned in Vietnam.
| Flag | |Use | Gia Long Gia Long Emperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam... and Tự Đức | The Long tinh or Dragon Spirit Flag. This was originally the personal banner of Emperor Gia Long (r. 1802–1820). It was used as a national flag beginning in 1863. Influences: Yellow is the color of an emperor. |
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| 1885–1890 | Flag of Emperor Đồng Khánh | Đại Nam Kỳ (National Flag of the Great South). Đại Nam was the official name of Vietnam at this time. "大" is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise, while "南" is rotated 90 degree clockwise. | |
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1890–1920 | Flag of Emperor Thành Thái Thanh Thai Emperor Thành Thái of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty was born Prince Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân, son of Emperor Duc Duc. He reigned for 18 years, from 1889 to 1907.-Biography:... |
A yellow field with three red stripes. The stripes represent the Quẻ Càn, or Qian trigram, also interpreted as representing the three regions of Vietnam (North, Central, and South). Influences:  |
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1920–1945 | Flag of emperors Khải Định and Bảo Đại Bảo Đài Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:... |
A yellow field with a single red stripe. Referred to as the Long tinh or Dragon Spirit Flag. Influences: |
 |
1923 – March 1945 | The "protectorate flag" of French Indochina French Indochina French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887.... |
French flag canton on a yellow field. Influences:  |
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May 8 – August 30, 1945 | Flag of the Empire of Vietnam Empire of Vietnam The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the whole of Vietnam between March 11 and August 23, 1945.-History:... (Japanese puppet state) |
A yellow field with three red stripes. The stripes represent the Quẻ Ly, or Li trigram. Influences: |
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1946–1948 | Flag of the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina Cochinchina Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ... (Nam Kỳ Cộng hòa quốc) |
A yellow field with three blue strips. Cochinchina is a precursor of South Vietnam. Influences: |
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June 2, 1948 – April 30, 1975 | Flag of South Vietnam South Vietnam South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon... |
A yellow field, with three red stripes. Identical to Thành Thái's flag: |
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August 18, 1945 – November 30, 1955 | Flag of North Vietnam North Vietnam The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout... |
A red field with a large yellow star. Earlier used as the flag of the Việt Minh Viet Minh Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China... (1941–1945). Influences: Red flag Red flag In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its... , . |
 |
November 30, 1955 – present | Flag of North Vietnam North Vietnam The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout... (1955–76) and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present) |
A red field with a large yellow star. Influences: Previous Flag of North Vietnam with the star sharpened following a similar modification of the Flag of the Soviet Union Flag of the Soviet Union The flag of the Soviet Union consisted of a plain red flag, with a setting or cross-peen hammer crossed with a sickle and a red star in the upper canton... . |
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1960–1975 | Flag of the Vietcong, or Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam | A yellow star on a red and blue background. This was briefly the legal flag of South Vietnam after Saigon fell on April 30, 1975. Influences:   |