Flag of Vietnam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The flag of Vietnam, also known as the "red flag with yellow star", was adopted as the flag of the Vietminh (Communist army) in 1941. It was adopted by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the future North Vietnam) in 1945, and by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (united Vietnam) on July 2, 1976, following the end of the Vietnam War.
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[edit] Design
The flag has a red background with a yellow five-pointed star in the center. It was designed by Nguyễn Hữu Tiến and first used in a 1940 uprising, Nam Kỳ Khởi nghĩa, against French rule, according to writer Son Tung, whose research was published in 1981.[1] The Red Army flag, an unofficial flag of the Russian army at that time, is similar in design, but uses a hollow star instead of a filled-in star. (See also the flag of the Việt Quốc and the flag of the Fujian People's Government.) Many Communist flags use a red background in honor of the Red Flag flown by the Paris Commune of 1871.
The future Vietnamese flag was displayed at a 1941 conference at which the Vietminh was founded. The flag of North Vietnam from 1945–1955 was similar to the current flag, but the central star was larger as its edges were curved. The South adopted the flag in 1976, after Vietnam was unified under the Communist Party.
During the French-Indochina War (1945-54) the red background was said to represent the struggle for independence, yellow represented the color of Vietnamese people, and the five points of the star were widely believed to represent the five traditional Confucian classes of people: the scholars (sĩ), the peasants (nông), the craftsmen (công), the merchants (thương), and the soldiers (binh).[citation needed]
In later years, the golden star was described in political training sessions as representing the social classes of labourers, peasants, intellectuals, the military, and the youth. The red is said to represent proletarian blood and the revolution.[2]
[edit] Historical Flags
The Trung sisters flew a yellow banner during their revolt against China in 40AD.[3] The yellow banner was adopted as a national flag by Emperor Gia Long (1802-1820).[3] Three red stripes were added in 1890 by Emperor Thành Thái to represent the northern, central and southern regions.[3] From 1920 to 1945, a yellow flag with a single, broad red stripe was flown. (The Vietnamese emperor was nominal ruler only for central Vietnam at this time.) Thành Thái's three-striped flag was adopted by the State of Vietnam (1949-55) and by its successor, the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) (1955-75).
In the United States, at least 11 states and 113 cities have adopted resolutions recognizing the former South Vietnamese flag as the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag.[4] The Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag is permanently displayed at memorial sites at Westminster, California and Cabramatta, Australia.
The Vietnamese government opposes these efforts and complained to the United States federal government on the grounds that it is a sovereign country with diplomatic relations with the United States. This flag is de-facto banned in Vietnam.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/news/story.php?d=20050829125146
- ^ Meaning of Vietnam National Flag. Mat Tran To Quoc Viet Nam. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
- ^ a b c The National Flag of Free Vietnam
- ^ Resolution Recognizing: The Yellow Flag With Three Red Stripes as The Official Flag of the Vietnamese American
[edit] External links
- The meaning of the flags of North and South Vietnam
- Vietnam at Flags of the World
- The National Flag of Viet Nam: Its Origin and Legitimacy or in PDF
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