(VOVWORLD) - Original sketches of Vietnam’s national emblem by late painter Bui Trang Chuoc were on display for the very first time at an exhibition in Hanoi from August 25 to September 6. The exhibition was co-hosted by the State Records Management and Archives Department, and the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum to celebrate the 75th anniversary of National Day.
 Vietnam's national emblem. |
Vietnam’s national emblem is circular in shape. In the middle of a red background is a five-pointed gold star encircled by rice ears. Below is half a cogwheel and the inscription “Cong hoa xa hoi chu nghia Viet Nam” (Socialist Republic of Vietnam).
Bui Trang Chuoc, the author of the emblem, was born in 1915 in Hanoi. He graduated from the Indochina Fine Arts College (now the Vietnam Fine Arts University) in 1941. He was the first Vietnamese painter to design postage stamps in Indochina.
“My father created more than 100 draft designs of the emblem in pencil and colour. Inspired by President Ho Chi Minh’s remarks that Vietnam was moving towards modernization, my father replaced the image of the anvil, which represents individual handicraft industry, with the image of a cogwheel," Chuoc’s daughter, Nguyen Thi Minh Trang, told VOV.
"It took my father 2 years to sketch numerous designs of the emblem and to select the 15 best designs for the National Assembly’s approval on the final one.”
Works on display at the exhibition also included nearly 200 documents and items related to the emblem. The design contest for the Vietnamese emblem was launched in 1951, attracting painters across the country.
“The sketches are unique artworks, and the exhibition honors Chuoc and Vietnamese painters for their enormous contributions to the creation of national symbols. Vietnam’s national emblem is a beautiful artwork which best represents Vietnam’s land and people,” said Director of the State Records and Archives Department of Vietnam Dang Thanh Tung.
Chuoc made a total of 112 sketches for the emblem, featuring typical images of Vietnam, from the buffaloes and bamboo trees to the gate of the Hung Kings Temple and Hanoi’s Flag Tower. 15 of them were submitted to the Government in October 1954. On January 14, 1956, President Ho Chi Minh signed a Decree to publicize the official Emblem designed by Bui Trang Chuoc.
Chuoc’s original sketches are now kept at Hanoi’s National Archives Center No.3.