23 November 1940; 85 years ago (1940-11-23) (Cochinchina uprising) 2 September 1945; 80 years ago (1945-09-02) (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) 30 November 1955; 69 years ago (1955-11-30) (current version) 2 July 1976; 49 years ago (1976-07-02) (reunifiedSocialist Republic of Vietnam)
Design
A largegold five-pointed star centered on ared field.
A white flag with an emblem referring theVietnam People's Navy in the top with the red labelHải quân Việt Nam ('Navy of Vietnam') and a blue strip below.
Thenational flag ofVietnam, formally theNational flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese:Quốc kỳ nước Cộng hoà xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam),[1][2] locally recognized as thegolden-starred red banner (cờ đỏ sao vàng)[a] or theFatherland flag (cờ Tổ quốc), was designed in 1940 and used during a failed communist uprising against the French colonialists inCochinchina that year.[3] The red background symbolizes revolution and bloodshed. The golden star symbolizes the soul of the nation and the five points of the star represents the five main classes in Vietnamese society—intellectuals, farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, and soldiers.[4]
The initial incarnation of the flag was used by theViet Minh, a communist-led organization created in 1941 to oppose Japanese military occupation and French colonialism. At the end ofWorld War II, Viet Minh leaderHo Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam independent and signed a decree on 5 September 1945 adopting the Viet Minh flag as the flag of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam.[5] TheDRV became the government of North Vietnam in 1954 following theGeneva Accords. The flag was modified on 30 November 1955 to make the points of the star straighter, which became the standard design for the Vietnamese flag until these days.[6] Until theend of the Vietnam War in 1975, theState of Vietnam and later theRepublic of Vietnam (South) used ayellow flag with three red stripes. The red flag of North Vietnam was later adopted as the flag of the unified Vietnam in 1976.[7] The flag of Vietnam is the only flag amongstASEAN that does not contain the colour white, with red and yellow/gold being its historical national colours.[8]
Vietnamese flag colours have often been various designs of red and bright yellow or gold. According to Article 141 of 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".[9] The flag is blazoned:Gules, a mullet of five points or.
The flag first appeared in theCochinchina uprising (Nam Kỳ Khởi nghĩa) of 23 November 1940, against French rule in southern Vietnam.[10] A series of articles by Sơn Tùng on the origin of the flag were published in the state media in 1981.[11] 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.[10] 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.[12]
Yellow (or gold) and red has long been common amongst Vietnamese flags. Yellow/Gold was a traditional color of Vietnam for more than 2,000 years, despite various historical interpretation. 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 ofTiền Giang province, suggested that the flag was designed by anothercadre, Lê Quang Sô, a native ofMỹ Tho Province in theMekong 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 1955, 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.[4] As of 2006, the state media has not commented on Đức's version of events.[13]
The flag was displayed at a conference on 19 May 1941, at which the Viet Minh was founded.[14] 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.[15] When the Japanese surrendered to the Allies at the end ofWorld War II, the Viet Minh entered Hanoi and proclaimed the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam" on 2 September. On 5 September, DRV PresidentHo Chi Minh signed a decree adopting the Viet Minh flag.[5] 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.[16] Ho Chi Minh further explained in a July 1947 interview that Vietnam chose the star for its flag because of its long-standing ties with China,whose flag featured a sun.[17][18]
Following theGeneva Accord between the 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.[6] This followed a similar modification of theflag of the Soviet Union. The flag was adopted in the South after the end of theVietnam War, and North and South were unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 2 July 1976.[7] The flag of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam (the Viet Minh-controlled areas in Northern and Southern Vietnam and later justNorth 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.[19]
Despite its historical connotations, nowadays, thered background (or red field) on the Vietnamese flag is commonly a symbol of bloodshed, struggle, and the success of revolution, inspired bycommunist 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, while theyellow (orgold, depends on theliterary tone) color of the star represents theVietnamese ethnicity (from theself-perception thatAsian people haveyellow skin). The flag may also be flown with the flag of theCommunist Party of Vietnam.
This is a color approximation of the Vietnamese flag. The Vietnamese lawmakers never nominate the standardized color schemes, while flags with different color shades and ratios are physically and digitally displayed by both civilians and state media as long as they obey the "red background with a centered yellow star" symbolism. The dimensions of the banner can also be intentionally tweaked by theGovernment of Vietnam in several occasions that the Vietnamese flag is flown with other countries' flags having nonnegotiable aspect ratios, for example theFlag of the United States.
Construction sheet of the flag. Even though the construction of the flag isformally andconstitutionally standardized, copies that don't obey the above guidelines are still widely used. Those include the popular usage of different flag proportions, as well as the inaccurately-sized and centered star.
Traditional images show theTrung sisters wearing yellow turbans during their revolt against North (China) in AD 40.[20] These were unwrapped and waved to signal the beginning of a fight.[21] However, they were not reallynational flags, but were more royal standards representing the monarchs and dynasties; the definition of national flags which represent the state and nation was only introduced in the later period duringNguyễn dynasty. The French, who graduallygained control of Vietnam in the late 19th century, flew the nationalflag of France. Thecolony of Cochinchina (1862–1945) was under exclusive French authority. In contrast,Annam andTonkin were protectorates with parallel systems of Vietnamese and French administration. Several flags were flown in these regions: the French flag, the protectorate flag, andLong tinh flag [vi].
Japan occupied Vietnam in 1941–1945. In March 1945, the Japanese deposed the French colonial authorities and proclaimed anEmpire of Vietnam withBảo Đại as emperor. TheQuẻ Ly flag [vi], a red quẻ Ly (one of eighttrigrams used in theI Ching[21][22]) 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. TheDemocratic Republic of Vietnam, proclaimed on 2 September 1945, adopted the red flag with a golden star. The French returned in 23rd of the same month, but were challenged by the Vietminh, especially in the North. The French proclaimed Cochinchina an autonomous republic in June 1946. This puppet state adopted a flag with three blue stripes on a yellow background.
In 1947, the name of the Cochinchina government was changed to "Provisional Government of Southern Vietnam" in preparation for a merger with theProvisional Central Government of Vietnam outlined in the Hạ Long Bay agreements between France and Bảo Đại. Theflag of the State of Vietnam was adopted by EmperorBảo Đại in 1948.[23] The three stripes represented theQuẻ Càn, or Qiantrigram.Quẻ Càn is the divination sign for heaven.[21] On 2 June 1948, Prime Minister of the Provisional Central GovernmentNguyễn 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."[21] The flag of theState of Vietnam was later also used by its successor the Republic of Vietnam, commonly known asSouth Vietnam.
On 8 June 1969, theNational Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) controlled by North Vietnam adopted a tricolor flag modelled from that ofNorth Vietnam, which is the red half at the top, the blue half at the bottom, and a yellow star in the center. This replaced the yellow flag after thefall of the Republic of Vietnam, and was used by theRepublic of South Vietnam controlled by the North until the official reunification under communism on 2 July 1976.[24]
On the other hand, in January 2017,San Jose, which has the largest population ofVietnamese emigrants from what was formerly South Vietnam in the United States, banned the Vietnamese flag from being displayed on city flagpoles. This was motivated by a 2016 policy adopted byWestminster, California that forbid the display of the flag on city property.[25][26] NearbyMilpitas also banned the flag from municipal display on 5 September 2017.[27]
An aircraft ofVietJet Air with the national flag painted below thewindshield. The yellow-star-on-the-red-background symbolism of the Vietnamese flag is also used to decorate theengine.
^ab"Resolution of 2 July 1976 (Resolution of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam About the Country’s Name, Flag, Emblem, Capital, National Anthem) (Vietnamese)",Archive of Vietnamese legal documents.
^Ho Chi Minh, Foreign Languages Pub. House, 1988, p. 76. "on 19 May 1941 Viet Minh Front officially made its appearance, and holding high the gold star red flag."
^Cima, Ronald J., ed. (1990). "The General Uprising and Independence".Vietnam : A Country Study. Dept. of the Army.ISBN978-0160181436.The following day, the Congress, at a ceremony in front of the village dinh, officially adopted the national red flag with a gold star, and Ho read an appeal to the Vietnamese people to rise in revolution.
^Phút Tán Nguyẽn,A Modern History of Viet-nam (1802–1954), 1964. p. 502. "The Assembly then adopted national Anthem and national flag, approved a new Cabinet and a Committee in charge of the drafting of the Vietnamese Constitution."
^Hồ Chí Minh Toàn tập, Tập 5. Chính trị Quốc gia - Sự thật. 2011. p. 200.
^"Những cuộc trả lời phỏng vấn báo chí của Bác Hồ (Phần 2)".Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Management Board (in Vietnamese). 2013. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved24 July 2025.Trung Quốc là một nước to lấy mặt trời làm tiêu biểu. Việt Nam là một nước nhỏ lại có quan hệ mật thiết với Trung Quốc đã mấy ngàn nǎm cho nên lấy ngôi sao làm tiêu biểu. [China is a large country that uses the sun as its symbol. Vietnam is a smaller country that has had close ties with China for thousands of years, so it uses a star as its symbol.]{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Vietnam".CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.Archived from the original on 5 February 2025. Retrieved10 February 2025.
^Nguyễn, Ngọc Huy. (March & April 1988) "National Flags and National Anthems of Vietnam"Tự Do Dân Bản magazine, issue: 27 & 28. Re-published in July 2015.Archived fromoriginal (in Vietnamese). p. 3 of 15
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