This National Liberation Front (NLF), or "Vietcong" flag.
This flag was initially obtained by purchase in Saigon. It was dated to the 1970 - 1974 period, fabricated of a plasticized cloth and was described as a "VC car or tank flag." This is a distinct possibility, as the NLF did acquire both vehicles and armor from the North Vietnamese. In fact most of the VC's large-scale offensive material was actually provided by the People's Army of Vietnam after the Viet Cong's operational capabilities were crippled after the 1968 Tet Offensive.
The NLF, like many similar insurgent movements formed in the post war era, was both a political and military front in Vietnam that engaged in guerrilla warfare against the US and South Vietnamese during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). The NLF had guerrilla and regular military units, as well as teams of political officers who organized, terrorized, and indoctrinated the indigenous populations in the areas under its influence. Flags such as these were , practically, the flag of North Vietnam with a blue bottom stripe.
This flag was brought to the US during the war. It was purchased in Da Nang, a large port city on the Vietnamese coast that was a major center of US operations.
Provenance:
• Acquired by purchase in Quinn M. Holurain, Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, 1970/74.
• Acquired by ZFC by purchase at Bay Area Militaria Show, San Jose, California, 2000.
ZFC Important Flag
Sources:
National Liberation Front (Vietcong), Flags of the World, 22 April 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/vn-vcong.html
Vietcong, Wikipedia, 22 April 2012, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
