# Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)

> The state poster art of Vietnam from the 1945 August Revolution to today. Where Soviet and Chinese socialist realism model heroic figures in full colour, Vietnamese posters flatten soldiers, militia women, farmers, weapons and crops into silhouettes and blocky planes in one to three tones, usually red, yellow and black. Originals were cut in wood during the resistance, then hand-painted in gouache or tempera, often over stencils, with a slogan in Quốc ngữ capitals.

- Period: 1945–present
- Where: Southeast Asia
- Origin: Việt Minh resistance zones from 1945, then Hanoi under the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, where a Propaganda Posters Bureau and, from 1966, a Central Workshop for Propaganda Paintings coordinated production; nationwide after 1975
- Branch: Pictorial & machine age
- Also known as: Tranh cổ động, Tranh tuyên truyền, Vietnamese socialist poster
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/vietnamese-propaganda-poster/

## Use it with care

These are state propaganda of a one-party government that still commissions them, and wartime sheets celebrate shooting down American aircraft and defeating enemy soldiers; present them as historical sources with context, not as kitsch decor. Many posters sold to tourists are recent repaintings or reproductions, so date and attribute carefully, and keep Vietnamese diacritics intact in any slogan.

## How it works

- Reduce figures, weapons and crops to flat silhouettes and blocky planes in one to three tones.
- Use the flag's red field and yellow star as the ground, with black, gold or white for figures.
- Paint each original by hand in gouache or tempera, often over a stencil, and accept brush texture and copy-to-copy variation.
- Set a short slogan in hand-lettered Quốc ngữ capitals, diacritics intact, in a band at the top or bottom.
- Build the message from emblematic shorthand: a rifle guarding a sickle and rice sheaves, a militia woman, a bumper harvest.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Condensed display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/condensed-display/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (occasional)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (occasional)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (characteristic)
- [Cosmic & celestial](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/cosmic-and-celestial/) (occasional)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Flat vector illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-vector-illustration/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)
- [Screen printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/screen-printing/) (occasional)
- [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (occasional)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (defining)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (characteristic)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (occasional)

Avoids: Gradients, Illusion of depth, Straight photography, Non-representational, Ironic & self-aware, Abundant decoration, Experimental & distorted, Gloss & highlights

Palette: #d22a21, #f3c623, #171717, #efe3c6, #3b7a3e

Typefaces: Hand-painted Quốc ngữ condensed sans capitals with stacked diacritics, Stencilled block capitals for slogan bands

Known for: Central Workshop for Propaganda Paintings, Hanoi (established 1966); Dương Ánh, Sỹ Thiết and Minh Phương (poster painters trained at the Indochina College of Fine Arts); 'Uncle President, this year the harvest is a bumper one' (c. 1955, offset lithograph; Australian War Memorial C1121249); Dogma Collection, Ho Chi Minh City, 'Crafting a Message' (Vietnamese posters 1945–1985); David Heather and Sherry Buchanan, Vietnam Posters: The David Heather Collection (Prestel, 2009)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/socialist-realism.md) (1932–1989)
- Influenced by: [Russian Constructivism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/constructivism.md) (1917–1934)
- Alike in its design choices: [Ethiopian Revolutionary Poster (Derg Era)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ethiopian-revolutionary-poster.md) (1974–1991), 77% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Black Lives Matter Street Murals](https://stylogeny.com/styles/blm-street-murals.md) (2020–present), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ultras Graphics (Curva Banners and Tifo)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ultras-graphics.md) (1968–present), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Spanish Civil War Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/spanish-civil-war-poster.md) (1936–1939), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Chilean Unidad Popular & Nueva Canción Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chilean-unidad-popular.md) (1967–1973), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Cuban Revolutionary Poster (OSPAAAL & ICAIC)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cuban-poster.md) (1960–1990), 66% alike

## Real works

- [Bảo vệ mùa màng, đóng góp nuôi quân [To protect the crops, to feed the troops]](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2629869): Lê Minh, 1968, Australian War Memorial, Canberra (AWM2018.726.1)
- [Vùng lên phá kềm – diệt ác [Up! Up! to destroy the evil...]](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2629873): Unrecorded painter, 1968 (collected September 1968; AWM dates it c. 1968–69), Australian War Memorial, Canberra (AWM2018.726.5)
- [Thừa thắng xông lên – Giành thắng lợi hoàn toàn! [Press on with the victory – Win total victory!]](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2629872): Unrecorded by AWM (signed at lower right, apparently 'L. Minh'), 1968 (collected September 1968; AWM dates it c. 1968–69), Australian War Memorial, Canberra (AWM2018.726.4)
- [Tuổi trẻ hãy cảnh giác! SIDA vô phương cứu chữa [Youth, be vigilant! AIDS has no cure]](https://wellcomecollection.org/works/wncxd4gd): Huỳnh Văn Thuận, 1992, Wellcome Collection, London (678214i)
- [Thưa Bác năm nay được mùa [Uncle President, this year the harvest is a bumper one]](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1121249): Việt-Hải, student of the Vietnam School of Fine Arts (signed 'Việt-Hải 55'); published by Nhà xuất bản Văn Nghệ, 1955 (signed '55'; AWM: c. 1955), Australian War Memorial, Canberra (ARTV09306)

## Sources

- Quarta Gallery, 'Vietnamese posters of the socialist era' (https://www.quartagallery.ru/articles-ru/vetnamskie-postery-vremen-socializma/?sl=en)
- Saigoneer, 'Resilience, resistance reflected in propaganda art exhibition Crafting a Message' (Dogma Collection)
- Australian War Memorial, collection C1121249 (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1121249)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/vietnamese-propaganda-poster/