Flag of Vietnam

Meaning and history of the flag of Vietnam

Vietnam's flag, known as "Cờ đỏ sao vàng" (the red flag with a yellow star), features an entirely red field with a large yellow five-pointed star at the center. It was adopted as the flag of North Vietnam on November 30, 1955, and became the flag of a reunified Vietnam on July 2, 1976.

The red background symbolizes revolution, the blood shed in the struggle for independence, and the country's communist tradition. The yellow five-pointed star represents the five social classes that united in the revolutionary struggle: workers, peasants, soldiers, intellectuals, and youth. The star's yellow is also the traditional color of the Vietnamese people, and it contrasts vividly with the red to create a striking image.

The flag's original design was created by Nguyễn Hữu Tiến in 1940 and was used by the Viet Minh during the August Revolution of 1945 against Japanese and French occupation. Vietnam's flag shares the aesthetic of a star on a red field with other flags of socialist states, such as China's, though China's carries five stars. It also shares its color scheme with the flags of the former Soviet Union and other communist states. Despite the country's political and economic transformations, the flag has remained unchanged, becoming a symbol of national identity that transcends ideology.

You can view the flag of Vietnam in high resolution above and download it in several sizes for personal, educational or reference use. To explore more, visit the full Vietnam profile, its map, or the current local time in Hanoi.