Flag of Vietnam

Flag of Vietnam
The flag of Vietnam, officially the National Flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Quốc kỳ nước Cộng hoà xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam), or cờ đỏ sao vàng, also cờ Tổ quốc , was designed in 1940 and used during an uprising against the French in southern Vietnam that year. The red background symbolizes revolution and bloodshed. The golden star represents the five main classes in Vietnamese society — intellectuals, farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, and soldiers.

The flag was used by the Viet Minh, a communist-led organization created in 1941 to oppose Japanese occupation. At the end of World War II, Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam independent and signed a decree on 5 September 1945 adopting the Viet 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 30 November 1955 to make the rays of the star pointier. Until the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, South Vietnam used a yellow flag with three red stripes. The red flag of North Vietnam was later adopted as the flag of the unified Vietnam in 1976. The flag of Vietnam is the only flag amongst ASEAN that does not contain the colour white, with red and yellow/gold being its historical national colours.

Vietnamese flag colours have often been various designs of red and bright yellow. According to the 1992 constitution: "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". The flag is blazoned: Gules, a mullet of five points or.

The flag first appeared in the Southern uprising (Nam Kỳ Khởi nghĩa) of 23 November 1940, against French rule in southern Vietnam. A series of articles by Sơn Tùng on the origin of the flag were published in the state media in 1981. Sơn Tùng stated that the flag was designed by Nguyễn Hữu Tiến, a leader of the uprising who was arrested by the French in advance of the failed uprising and executed 28 August 1941. Tiến, who was born in the northern village of Lũng Xuyên, was unknown to the Vietnamese public before Tùng's research was published. According to a poem Tiến wrote, the red background came to represent the blood of the people, whilst the yellow foreground came to represent "the colour of our people’s skin" which was written during times of oppression from Japanese rule. The five points of the star represents intellectuals, peasants, workers, traders and soldiers. Yellow and red has long been common amongst Vietnamese flags. Yellow/Gold was a traditional color of Vietnam for more than 2,000 years. 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. 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. As of 2006, the state media has not commented on Đức's version of events.

The flag was displayed at a conference on 19 May 1941, at which the Viet Minh was founded. The Viet Minh proclaimed it a "national flag" on 17 August 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 Viet Minh entered Hanoi and proclaimed the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam" on 2 September. On 5 September, DRV President Ho Chi Minh 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 2 March 1946. Following the Geneva Accord between Viet Minh and France in 1954, the DRV became the government of North Vietnam.

On 30 November 1955, the flag's design was modified slightly to make the star smaller and its rays straighter. This followed a similar modification of the flag of the Soviet Union. The flag was adopted in the South after the end of the Vietnam war, and North and South were unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 2 July 1976. The flag of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the Viet Minh-controlled areas in Northern and Southern Vietnam and later just North Vietnam) from 1945 to 1955 was similar to the current flag of Vietnam but with the points of the star set at a more obtuse angle.

Despite its historical connotations, nowadays, the red background (or red field) on the Vietnamese flag is commonly a symbol of bloodshed, struggle, and the success of revolution, inspired by communist symbolism. The yellow star centred on the red field symbolizes one of five classes of society —entrepreneurs, farmers, workers, intellectuals and soldiers representing each point of the star. The flag may also be flown with the flag of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

National flag
Flag of Vietnam
Country - Vietnam

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Vietnam or Viet Nam (Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is located at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of 311699 km2 and population of 96 million, making it the world's sixteenth-most populous country. Vietnam borders China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia through the South China Sea. Its capital is Hanoi and its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City (informal popular name is Saigon).

Vietnam was inhabited by the Paleolithic age, with states established in the first millennium BC on the Red River Delta in modern-day northern Vietnam. The Han dynasty annexed Northern and Central Vietnam under Chinese rule from 111 BC, until the first dynasty emerged in 939. Successive monarchical dynasties absorbed Chinese influences through Confucianism and Buddhism, and expanded southward to the Mekong Delta, conquering Champa. The Nguyễn—the last imperial dynasty—surrendered to France in 1883. Following the August Revolution, the nationalist Viet Minh under the leadership of communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independence from France in 1945.
Neighbourhood - Country
  •  China 
  •  Khmer Republic 
  •  Laos