Vietnam has voiced its vehement opposition to Australia’s release of a coin featuring the yellow flag of South Vietnam.
During the Vietnam War, which resulted in the country’s unification, Australia fought alongside the defeated US-supported South.
The particular two-dollar coin was released to commemorate 50 years since Australia withdrew its military from Vietnam.
The coin’s yellow flag, enclosed in a ring, is modelled after the ribbon colours given to Australian service members.
Pham Thu Hang, deputy spokesperson for the Vietnamese foreign ministry, said, “We lament and vehemently object against the releases and circulation of items by the Royal Australian Mint and Australia Post that bear the yellow flag with three stripes, the banner of a dictatorship that is no longer in power.
On the coin’s face and reverse are depictions of the UH-1H helicopter and the late Queen Elizabeth II. Between 1962 and 1975, more than 520 Australians lost their lives in Vietnam.
A football game between Vietnam and Australia was broadcast on Vietnam’s national television in January 2017 with a 10-minute delay because some Australian supporters brought yellow-striped flags to the stadium.
After holding up yellow flags in public, three Vietnamese ladies were accused of promoting anti-state propaganda and were given a four-year prison sentence in July 2018.
According to Nguyen Van Tuan, a former South Vietnamese refugee currently doing medical research at University of New South Wales as well as University of Technology in Sydney, Vietnam seems to have overreacted to the commemorative coins.
He claimed that since veterans of the old South Vietnam are eligible for benefits from the Australian government, it is normal for some local governments in Australia to fly the yellow flag.
According to him, the yellow flag was also flown by “boat people” like himself who escaped Vietnam by boat to be recognized as refugees.
The flag, he said, “while no longer representing any nation, remains a symbol of the Vietnamese community in Australia.”
The Vietnam Service medal, first unveiled in 1968, and other service medals given to Australians who served in Vietnam were represented in the design, according to the Royal Australian Mint.
