Scouting was brought to Vietnam from France and its spreading among the Vietnamese people begun since 1927 in northern part of the country. Vietnamese Scout Association (Hoi Huong Dao Viet Nam) was founded in 1930. The movement quickly gained popularity throughout the country and although the World War II and the First Indochina War did stop its activities, it successfully recovered afterwards. Since 1954, Scouting was banned in North Vietnam after the Communist rule was established, but continued to thrive in South Vietnam until 1975, when all the activities were stopped due to the war, to be eventually banned same year after the unification of the country. The Scouting was revived in the refugee camps and subsequently in the countries where the refugees eventually settled down, the local organizations being both attached to the respective national associations, as well to the International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting, which was founded in 1983. Inside Vietnam, there were constant efforts by former Scouts, who were also the members of the Communist Party, to revive the movement, but with no success until the mid-1990s, when first Scout groups were founded. Since then, the Scouting has been slowly growing, ostly in southern part of Vietnam, still without an official recognition, but tolerated by the authorities. The Vietnamese Scout Association was recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) from 1957 to 1975. Since then, there has been no internationally recognized Scout movement, the groups in diaspora having been recognized only as the members of national associations in the countries of their residence. Tomislav Todorovic, 7 January 2013
Flag of Vietnamese Scout Association is green, charged with afleur-de-lys surrounded with a rope which is tied into a knot at the bottom part of the emblem, all in red. The fleur-de-lys is shaped so as to resemble the red lotus, Vietnamese national flower. Red and green are the colors of Vietnamese scouting since at least 1930, when green neckerchiefs with red hem were introduced in Hanoi. The flag is still used by the Vietnamese Scouts in diaspora. In Vietnam, there are still no records of its use, although the local Scout groups often use green flags with the red fleur-de-lys and group designation.
![[flag of the Vietnamese Scout Association]](../images/v/vn_hhdvn.gif)
