Vietnam's Flags 🇻🇳

Through its turbulent history Vietnam had different flags. During the 19th century Vietnam was colonized by the French and put into the Union of Indochina. Within this union the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin had this flag.

Under Japanese rule during World War II a puppet state named the Empire of Vietnam was proclaimed with Emperor Bảo Đại as its head of state. The flag was first this and then this.

When Japan surrendered Vietnamese communists in the north proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam that later became known as North Vietnam. Meanwhile the French lost the battle for the north and in the 1954 Geneva Conference two Vietnams were created: north and south. The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (a.k.a. the Vietcong) used this flag and kept fighting against the South Vietnamese government. The Americans intervened which led to the Vietnam War. In 1973 the Americans pulled out and two years later the communist forces of the north took over the south. The northern flag became the flag for the whole of the country that is today known as Vietnam.