The flag of South Vietnam was designed by Emperor Thành Thái in 1890[1] and was revived by Emperor Bảo Đại in 1948. It was the flag of the former State of Vietnam (the French-controlled areas in both Northern and Southern Vietnam) from 1949 to 1955 and later of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) from 1955 until April 30, 1975 when the south unconditionally surrendered to the north, to which it was officially joined in a unified Vietnam a year later. The flag consists of a yellow field and three horizontal red stripes and can be explained as either symbolising the unifying blood running through northern, central, and southern Vietnam, or as representing the symbol for "south" (as in, south from China and also 'nam' meaning south), in Daoist trigrams.
It is still used by many Vietnamese emigrants now living in other countries, mainly because the current Vietnamese flag is considered to be offensive to them.[2] From February 2003 to August 2006, in the United States, 13 states, seven counties and 85 cities have adopted resolutions recognizing the yellow flag as the "Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag".[3][4][5]
Contents |
Originally, the flag of the Emperor of Annam had a yellow background. During the reign of Emperor Gia Long (1802–1820), the yellow flag was also used as the symbol of the Empire of Vietnam.
In 1890, the Emperor Thành Thái passed a decree, changing the flag with Chinese characters to a new flag. The yellow flag with three red stripes was created and used for the first time as the national flag (Đại Nam National Flag 1890-1920). Some claim this flag (called The Yellow Flag for short) is the first true "national flag" of the Vietnamese people for it reflects the aspiration and hope of the people, not just the emperors, for independence and unification of the Viet nation.[6][7]
In 1916-1925, after Emperors Thành Thái and Duy Tân were exiled to Africa and obeying the French, Emperor Khải Định issued a decree to change the national flag, the Yellow Flag, which signified the three unified regions (North, Central, and South) was replaced by a yellow flag with one red horizontal stripe. This yellow flag with one red stripe was also called the "Long Tinh" flag because it was transformed from the original Long Tinh flag of the Nguyễn Dynasty.
In 1945, during Trần Trọng Kim's government that is called the Empire of Vietnam by Japan, the two red bands were added to the middle broken red band to form the Quẻ Ly Flag. The Quẻ Ly Flag was the official flag of Vietnam at that time. Quẻ Ly is a divination trigram of "fabulous unicorn", sixth of the Bát Quái (the Eight Trigrams - (Ba gua) in I Ching): Càn, Khâm, Cấn, Chấn, Tốn, Ly, Khôn, Đoài. This divination sign of fabulous unicorn represents the sun, fire, beam of light, and civilization. And more importantly, it also represents the direction of south, emphasizing that Vietnam, as the lands "passed the clouds" (see Yunnan) is southward from China.(See I Ching). This flag was used only from June 1945 to August 1945, when Bảo Đại abdicated as emperor.
On 2 June 1948, the Chief of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam, Brigadier General Nguyen Van Xuan, signed an ordinance to specify the characteristics of the Vietnamese National Flag as follows: "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." When the former Emperor Bảo Đại returned as chief of state in 1949, this design was adopted as the flag of the State of Vietnam.
The three red bands have the divination sign of Quẻ Càn (乾 qián), the first of the Eight Trigrams mentioned above. Quẻ Càn represents heaven. Based on the worldview of Vietnamese people, Quẻ Càn indicates the South Sky, the Vietnamese Nation, Vietnamese people, and the people's power. Another interpretation places the three red bands as symbols of the three regions of Vietnam: North, Central, and South. The flag was used by the Republic of Vietnam (more commonly known as South Vietnam) for the duration of that state's existence (1955–1975). It was abolished on 30 April 1975, when the South unconditionally surrendered to the North.
The flag of the former South Vietnam (also used under Emperor Thành Thái) remains highly controversial, particularly in the case of Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese Australians, and other Vietnamese around the world who fled Vietnam after the war, who call it the "Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag."
In Vietnam at present, the flag is prohibited by law from public display.
In the United States, virtually no Vietnamese Americans use the current flag of Vietnam, which many of them consider offensive. Instead, they use the flag of South Vietnam as their symbol.
A explanation of the flag by the Flags of the World which is the website devoted to vexillology.