Flag of South Vietnam

The flag has become a symbol for different things: anti-communism, U.S. imperialism, democracy and recollection of the past.

The flag of South Vietnam served as the national flag of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam, the State of Vietnam (known as "South Vietnam" after 1954), and its successor, the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) from 1948 to 1975 until the fall of Saigon. The design consists of a yellow background with three red horizontal stripes through the middle. Although South Vietnam ceased to exist in 1975, the flag still finds use among private citizens in other countries and is still shown and used overseas by some Vietnamese emigrés, particularly in North America and Australia. Since June 2002, at least 13 U.S. state governments, seven counties, and 85 cities in 20 states have adopted resolutions recognizing the former flag as "Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag."

Quotes

• The fall of Saigon was the turning point of the Vietnam War, which caused over 1 million North Vietnamese deaths, military and civilian, and a quarter-million South Vietnamese casualties. The war killed nearly 50,000 American troops and displaced about half a million people. Many Vietnamese refugees sought asylum in the United States. Today, they invoke the ongoing cultural value of this “fallen” regime by flying the South Vietnam flag at Lunar New Year parades and musical concerts.
  • Long T. Bui, "Why the flag of South Vietnam flew at US Capitol siege" in The Conversation (12 January 2021)

• The yellow flag is an emotional and integral part of the identity of some 70,000 Vietnamese living in Washington. It symbolizes where we came from and our fight for a free society.
  • Thanh Tan, "Recognizing the South Vietnam flag is long overdue" in The Seattle Times (19 June 2015)

South Vietnamese flags at Vietnamese New Year parade in San Jose, California

• So entrenched is the flag of the fallen country that in Orange County — the capital of Vietnamese Americans overseas — it won formal recognition as the symbol for the immigrant community. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger later granted the state’s blessing to the flag.
  • Anh Do, "Nearly 40 years after war’s end, flag of South Vietnam endures" in Los Angeles Times (27 December 2014)

• The flag represented South Vietnam for its entire existence, from 1955 to 1975. After the Fall of Saigon, it became a symbol of national pride and identity for members of the Vietnamese diaspora who fled the Communist regime. Today, the flag is common not only in Vietnamese communities in the U.S., but also in Canada, Australia, France and western Germany.
  • Isabelle Taft, "Vietnamese community reacts after South Vietnam flag flies at violent Capitol riot" in Sun Herald (15 January 2021)

• I have fond memories with this flag. We hung it in our home when my dad hosted political meetings. My mom placed a miniature version of the American and Vietnamese flags together on a little stand above our giant 1980s stereo system. At a Vietnamese event, that flag was displayed next to Old Glory.
  • Thanh Tan, "Why you'll see the South Vietnamese flag flying in Seattle" in KUOW (31 October 2017)

• The yellow-and-red-striped banners of the former South Vietnam flew above crowds of rioters all over the Capitol grounds. Many of the flag carriers were Vietnamese Americans who, in support of President Donald Trump, have often used the emblem to express nostalgia for a lost home and opposition to communism.
  • Claire Wang, "Why the defunct South Vietnam flag was flown at the Capitol riot" in NBC Asian America (15 January 2021)

• The Yellow Flag is a historic symbol of Vietnamese refugees in Australia. It’s not just a normal property of someone, so when the boy pulled down the flag, it insults all Vietnamese refugees.
  • Kate Hoang, "'Hate crime': Community anger after South Vietnam Yellow Flag 'desecrated' in Sydney" in SBS Vietnamese (11 May 2021)

• All of you here are free to attach your own meanings to the flag. It is your right in a democracy. The city council, however, as the city’s highest elected body, has a duty to not uncritically endorse these projections and interpretations in the name of the entire city without a fuller understanding of the history of the flag. I personally believe that it is a mistake for the city council to endorse the flag of the former South Vietnam, a flag that is highly controversial and painful to many. When it comes to democracy, the former South Vietnamese government was also a dictatorship...
  • Kshama Sawant, "A Flag Controversy of Our Own" in Seattle Met (24 June 2015)

• Communist authorities view the flag and the people who fly it overseas as linked to campaigns aimed at undermining or even toppling its rule.
  • Helen Clark, South Vietnam flag still flies high in Asia Times (23 July 2017)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Flag of South Vietnam on Wikipedia
• Media related to Flag of South Vietnam on Wikimedia Commons