South Vietnam was a country that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War, as well as a satellite state of the United States. It received international recognition in 1949 as the “State of Vietnam” (a self-governing entity in the French Empire), which was a constitutional monarchy (1949–1955). The country was renamed the “Republic of Vietnam” in 1955. Its capital was Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). After the Second World War, the anti-Japanese Việt Minh guerrilla forces, led by communist fighter Ho Chi Minh, proclaimed the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi in September 1945, issuing a Declaration of Independence modeled on the US one from 1776. The beginnings of the Vietnam War occurred in 1955 with an uprising by the newly organized National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (Việt Cộng), armed and supported by the North Vietnam, with backing mainly from China and the Soviet Union. Larger escalation of the insurgency occurred in 1965 with American intervention and the introduction of regular forces of Marines, followed by Army units to supplement the cadre of military advisors guiding the Southern armed forces. A regular bombing campaign over North Vietnam was conducted by offshore US Navy airplanes, warships, and aircraft carriers joined by Air Force squadrons through 1966 and 1967. Fighting peaked up to that point during the Tet Offensive of February 1968, when there were over a million South Vietnamese soldiers and 500,000 US soldiers in South Vietnam. What started as a guerrilla war eventually turned into a more conventional fight as the balance of power became equalized. Communist forces overran Saigon on 30 April 1975, marking the end of the Republic of Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (which had taken over administration of the country) and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (then the government of North Vietnam) merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The flag of South Vietnam served as national flag of the former State of Vietnam, and its successor, the Republic of Vietnam from 1949 to 1975. The flag is popular amongst western-aligned overseas Vietnamese communities but is banned in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It consists of a yellow background with three red horizontal stripes through the middle. The flag consists of a yellow field and three horizontal red stripes, and can be explained as either emblematic of the common blood running through northern, central, and southern Vietnam. Although South Vietnam ceased to exist in 1975, the flag still finds use among private citizens in other countries and is still shown and used overseas by some Vietnamese emigrés, particularly those residing in North America and Australia. Full HD.