Republic of Vietnam National Flag, 1948 - 1975.
The Flag of the Republic of Vietnam, three red horizontal stripes on golden yellow was simple and easy to produce as this home-made cotton demonstrates. The flag was adopted in 1948 by the Republic of Vietnam who chose to revive the old flag of the 19th century Vietnamese Emperor Thành Thái. The Republic of Vietnam was the political entity that governed the southern 1/3 of the former French colony of Cochin China in opposition to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam declared by Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi.

The three red stripes are representative of the heaven and sky trigram from the Bagua of Taoist cosmology as well as the three regions of Vietnam; north, central and south. Although it does not conform to the official proportions of 2:3, this nearly square cotton flag clearly identifies South Vietnam. Flags like this were popular items for returning GIs to acquire as mementos of service.

Provenance: Acquired by purchase in the summer of 2003 at the Militaria show in San Jose, Ca.

ZFC Noteworthy Flag

Sources:


South Vietnam, Wikipedia, 7 May 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Vietnam

Flag of Vietnam, Wikipedia, 7 May 2012, from; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Vietnam

Bagua, Wikipedia, 7 May 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_gua

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection