Recently, Vietnamese celebrities have been harassed online after having their pictures taken in the presence of an old reminder of their country’s war-torn past and authoritarian present: the flag of South Vietnam.
The flag — a yellow banner adorned by three red stripes — was the flag representing the anti-communist government of South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam. The country was formed after the country’s independence from France in 1954, but fell in 1975 after communist forces won the Vietnam War.
Despite this, the yellow flag still flies, raised by ethnic Vietnamese communities throughout the world who fled communism. Government bodies in the U.S. have even legislated to have the flag recognized; a move that angers the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP).
Recently Vietnamese celebrities have been caught up in the controversy.
A campaign was launched in late July after singer Myra Tan was found to have sung at a funeral service in the U.S. for a fallen South Vietnamese soldier, Ly Tong. Tran apologized for the performance on Aug. 15 via her Facebook page, saying she did not know that she had taken part in “inappropriate events,” nor did she wish to “oppose or undermine national security.”
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Since then, pro-government groups on Facebook began searching for other celebrities, “outing” them in an attempt to humiliate them. Another singer, Ngoc Mai — also known as O Sen — was seen in a video with her husband, Quoc Nghiep, and their children in an American house with flags of both the U.S. and South Vietnam on a bed.
Ngoc subsequently deleted the video from Facebook, but did not escape criticism from pro-government voices.
One netizen even said Ngoc had “burned the bridge” for being ungrateful for the communist state.
Ngoc Mai had been a former member of the VCP, but had lost her membership for not regularly participating in its activities.
Viet Huong, lead actress of the currently-running film “Ma Da”, also had to apologize for appearing on stage near both a U.S. flag and the yellow flag, and vowed to take “full responsibility” for her actions.
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Media hunt
An article by the state-run newspaper Vietnamese Police, titled “Behind an Apology,” reads that Tran’s apparent lack of knowledge does not excuse her performance at the funeral, adding that she should have refused even though she did not have the chance to learn more.
Great Solidarity, another state-run paper, stated that celebrities should “improve their knowledge, understand what they can and cannot do, and learn to distinguish the national flag from other symbols before aspiring to fame.”
Speaking anonymously to RFA, a Vietnamese independent journalist said that if artists should be aware, then businesses should as well. VinFast car advertisements also feature the yellow flag in overseas publications, while food exports are being sold in overseas markets with the yellow flag.
“Society is controlled not by the rule of law but by waves of cruel and savage words,” the journalist said of the situation under the VCP’s rule.
“Without appropriate government oversight, such a chaotic society — a version of the Chinese Communist model — would be viewed unfavorably by civilized partners and countries having diplomatic relationships with Vietnam.”
The journalist fears that Vietnam would be fully “red” by the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon on April 30, 2025, as artists involved with overseas communities are at risk of sustained harassment by the VCP.
The flag still flies
Even after the fall of Saigon, those who have fled Vietnam continue to hoist the yellow flag with pride, particularly among Vietnamese migrants in the United States.
Today, the flag can be commonly found in Little Saigon in California, where a significant portion of the Vietnamese American population live. To them, the yellow flag represents their heritage and cultural identity, and those who had to escape the communist threat, the Los Angeles Times wrote. The flag is a stark opponent against the official Vietnamese flag with its red banner and yellow star.
Musician Truc Ho had launched several large music programs in the U.S., spreading awareness of Vietnamese human rights. Speaking to Radio Free Asia (RFA), he said the yellow flag is still emotionally important to the Vietnamese communities.
“They should [not] have to apologize. I don’t know why they had to apologize,” he said, referring to singers abused online. “Flying yellow flags at the performances for overseas VIetnamese here is a matter of course.”
Living in California, singer Nguyen Khang also told RFA that the Vietnamese Communist Party had invited overseas Vietnamese to come home, but its stance against the flag worries him.
“If performing on an overseas stage in front of the [South Vietnamese] flag is an offense, I’m sure that up to two-thirds of Vietnamese artists would be guilty, as this flag represents the overseas Vietnamese community,” he said.
On May 9, 2024, the Vietnamese embassy in London was crowded by more than 200 protestors who called for the communist government to release prisoners and requested democratic reforms, The Conversation reported.
