Country profile: Vietnam

According to the most common account, the red flag with a yellow star first appeared during the Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ) uprising of November 1940 against the French colonial administration. It was then adopted by the Viet Minh, the independence front led by Ho Chi Minh.

After the August Revolution, it became the flag of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in September 1945. In 1955, the shape of the star was redrawn, with more slender points.

After the country's reunification, it was adopted on 2 July 1976 as the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The elements of the Vietnamese flag have an official meaning:

• Red: the revolution and the blood shed for the country's independence.
• Yellow star: the leadership of the Party and the unity of the people; its five points represent intellectuals, farmers, workers, traders and soldiers.

At the country's northernmost point, the Lũng Cú flagpole, on the Chinese border, flies a flag measuring 54 square metres, in tribute to the 54 ethnic groups officially recognised in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese flag is often compared with that of China, which also combines red and yellow, but with five stars placed in the canton.

The flag is everywhere during the major national holidays, such as 2 September, the anniversary of Ho Chi Minh's proclamation of independence in 1945, when it decorates the streets of every town.