Flag of Vietnam - Design

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. 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:

... 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...

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.