REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

ARMY & AIR FORCE FLAGS  •  1949-75

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) traced its origins to 1949, when it was established as the Vietnam National Army of the French-sponsored State of Vietnam. As such it participated in the First Indochina War (1949-54), which resulted in the departure of the French after their defeat by the Communist People's Army of Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu. The subsequent International Geneva Conference partitioned the former French colony into two states: The Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). Conflict between them gradually escalated into the Second Indochina War, ultimately won by the DRV, which then unified the country as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. After 1954 the ARVN, as it had become, was increasingly influenced by US military doctrine and practice—inevitably as America became its principal source of weapons and equipment, and the US became ever more deeply involved in the conflict. The result was a fighting force that though it contained many fine units such as the Airborne Division, had an inadequate logistical foundation. This was a particular problem for the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF), which was largely reliant on the US for the supply and maintenance support needed to keep its aircraft flying. For both the ARVN and the VNAF, that was an intractable problem in wartime conditions, where day-to-day operational demands conflicted with the need for long-term development. And in the end, with the withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam, it was to prove fatal for the armed forces of the RVN. The ARVN and the VNAF had a wide range of flags for their units and various supporting organizations. The war flag was an alternate national flag that could be flown over any military installation. Senior officials had positional flags, that of the president as supreme commander being different from that displayed on non-military occasions. There was a flag for the armed forces as a whole as well as one for each of the three services. The selection of unit flags shown below typifies the design of such flags. See also Flags of the Republic of Vietnam Navy. Flag Proportions: Most RVN military flags were proportioned 2:3.

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