At exactly 5:50 am, the honour guard formation marched from the right side of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to the flagpole, accompanied by the stirring military band playing the march "Tien Buoc Duoi Quan Ky" (Marching under the army flag). Leading the formation was the Determined-to-Win Military Flag, followed by 34 honor guards representing the 34 soldiers who were the first members of the Viet Nam Propaganda Liberation Army, the predecessor of the Viet Nam People’s Army.
At 6 am, the national flag was hoisted to the top of the 29-metre-high flagpole amid a solemn atmosphere.As the national anthem rang out, the red flag with a yellow star flew over historic Ba Dinh Square. The main entrance to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum was opened during the ceremony.
Local residents and visitors had dressed respectfully for the occasion and gathered early for the ceremony. They paused to watch the national flag being slowly raised to the top of the flagpole, and joined in singing the national anthem.The red flag with a yellow star was first raised over Ba Dinh Square on September 2, 1945, when President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence before millions of Vietnamese people, proclaiming the birth of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam.
Over the past 81 years, the image of the national flag flying over Ba Dinh Square has come to symbolise the enduring existence of the Fatherland in the heart of every Vietnamese person.
