Viet Quoc is the shortened form of VietNam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnamese National Party) which was first formed in 1927. Its primary objective was an armed uprising aimed at toppling the French rule of Vietnam, which was part of French Indochina. In 1930, the Viet Quoc were involved in a unsuccessful uprising in Hanoi. The leaders were sentenced to death by the French government.

The Viet Minh were communist freedom fighters seeking the liberation of Vietnam from the French who ruled all of Indochina. The movement started in 1941, first to fight the French, and later to opposed the Japanese occupation.

In 1950 Laos was granted semi-autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. However, the French remained in de facto control until 1954, when Laos gained full independence as a constitutional monarchy. A long Laotian Civil War between the Royal Laotian government and the communist Pathet Lao ended officially when the communists won in 1975, removing the king from power (he died in captivity), and forming a strict socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. A gradual return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws has taken place in recent years.

Cambodia gained independence from France in 1954, when the United Nations divided up French IndoChina. It became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. In 1975, the Communist Khmer Rouge rebels took power and approximately one to three million people were killed by them. Violence and warfare continued throughout the 1980s. United Nations Peace efforts began in 1989, culminating two years later in 1991 in a comprehensive peace settlement. The United Nations was given a mandate to enforce a cease fire, and deal with refugees and disarmament. The stability thus established has mostly remained in place. Money raised in schools and community groups in more developed nations like Japan, France, West-Germany, Canada, Australia and the United States, has gone toward the rebuilding of infrastructure and housing.

Following the partition of Vietnam in 1954, Communists led by Ho Chí Minh gained control of North Vietnam, and thousands of Vietnamese began migrating either north or south. Those moving north aligned with Ho Chí Minh in Hanoi (Hŕ Noi), while those moving south joined the Saigon government of the Catholic leader Ngo Dinh Diem. Warfare broke out between the two new countries, and the United States soon became involved. With the fall of Saigon in 1975, South Vietnam merged with North Vietnam to form a single nation officially called the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, or more commonly simply called Vietnam.

North Vietnam Flag 1955

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN) Vertical Banner between 1955-1975 (The Socialist Republic of Vietnam SRV Banner 1975-present) was and is used as a decorative hanging on walls during ceremonies and official events. The ratio is approximately 2:1, the star’s center is more or less at the bottom of the first quarter.

The Viet Cong, or National Liberation Front, was the patriot/rebel army based in South Vietnam that fought the South Vietnamese government and the supporting United States troops during the Vietnam War (1959-75). They fought mainly as guerrilla units and rarely as regular army units. They also provided a network of cadre who organized the peasants against the government in the territory they controlled.

Until 1975, South Vietnam was the part of Vietnam south of the 17th parallel. Although, in the popular press, the Republic of Vietnam was called "South Vietnam" and the People´s Republic of Vietnam called "North Vietnam," both governments actually claimed all of Vietnam as their territory. The Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed in 1954 and led by Catholic leader Ngô Đěnh Diem. It soon was under attack from the North Vietnamese in the north and the Viet Cong from within. American support began in 1954 and then escalated into the Vietnam War in 1958. After Diem was deposed in a military coup in 1963, there was a series of short-lived military governments, ending with General Nguyen Van Thieu leading the country from 1967 until 1975.

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to 1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and others.

U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search-and-destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and air strikes.

New Zealand		Republic of the Philippines
Thailand		Kingdom of Laos

The Vietnam War, America's longest modern war, ended in 1973 with the United States withdrawing their troops and abandoning their allies to the northern forces. Fighting continued until 1975 when North Vietnamese forces overran Saigon and gained control of all of Vietnam. Before long, all of Indochina was under Communist rule.

The Viet Cong, the lightly armed South Vietnamese communist insurgency, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large-sized units into battle. Usually, conventional tactics led to American and South Vietnamese victories.

Lao People's Democratic Republic Pathet Lao		People's Republic of Kampuchea Khmer Rouge

This struggle proved once again that determination to persevere no matter how long it takes or costs, will always prevail over government policy without popular public support. The British learn this in the American Revolution, the Spanish learned it in the Netherlands, the French learned it in Spain, the USSR learned it in Afghanistan, and the Americans learned it in Vietnam. In the end, the dissatisfaction of the American people with their governments policies and leaders led to the American withdrawal and North Vietnam's victory. It is unfortunate that the results for the Vietnamese people would be so costly.

In 1968, the Party of National Democratic and Peaceful Forces (NDPFV - Parti des Forcees nationales democratiques et pacifiques), created under sponsorship of the Viet Cong, was formed for propaganda purposes as a temporary government in Hue. It became part of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front, founded in 1977, and merged with several other smaller communist labor type groups. A flag with three stripes (red/light blue/red) and a yellow/gold star centered on the light blue stripe was used by the National Democratic and Peaceful Forces of Vietnam for a short time between 1968 and 1970.