According to the village elders, since the 16th century, this land has been famous for its traditional embroidery and weaving products. Hundreds of years ago, many people from the village went to “Ke Cho” (today Hang Bong and Hang Gai streets in Hanoi) to open shops selling products made by their own skillful hands.
Tu Van people are always proud of their village's glorious craft of embroidering national flags.
In August 1945, the artisans of Tu Van village were assigned by the Resistance Committee a “special mission” to embroider tens of thousands of national flags in preparation for the August General Uprising. Amidst the jubilant crowd and the sea of fluttering flags on Ba Dinh Square on September 2, 1945, many red flags with yellow stars were embroidered by the artisans of Tu Van village. Since then, the people have always been proud of their village’s glorious national flag embroidery craft.
Through many ups and downs, the craft of embroidering and sewing national flags in Tu Van village has been maintained to this day. Most of the flags used in celebrations, Party congresses, welcoming rallies and important events of the country are made by families and artisans of Tu Van village. Whether produced by machines or by hand, flags from Tu Van village always contain the meticulousness, diligence, talent and love for the profession and the Fatherland of the craftsmen.
The craft of embroidering and sewing national flags in Tu Van village is still maintained today.
The national flag was born from skillful hands.
When visiting the famous village in the capital near September 2, photographer Nguyen Hong Son (currently living and working in Hanoi) saw the garment factories in Tu Van immersed in red, with machines operating at full capacity. Many production facilities had to increase dozens of workers to meet the demand of the national market.
“When I arrived at Tu Van village in the afternoon, as soon as I stepped through the village gate, I was warmly welcomed by the locals. They asked me where I was going and if I wanted to see the flag-making process, I could go to the house of the man’s son. Then, they enthusiastically took me to the place, showing the hospitality of the locals,” said the photographer.
Everyone worked hard to complete the red flags with yellow stars in time for September 2nd.
When he entered the small yard, Mr. Hong Son saw embroidery frames arranged along the yard. The red cloth was stretched and people were concentrating on meticulously embroidering five-pointed stars with gold thread. Everyone was working hard to complete the red flags with yellow stars in time for September 2nd.
To make the flag, the fabric must be sa fabric bought from La Khe village (Ha Dong), and the embroidery thread must be a special type from Trieu Khuc village (Thanh Tri). These are all high-quality materials that help create durable and delicate flags. Therefore, the flags of Tu Van village are not only favored by agencies in Hanoi but are also ordered in large quantities from many other provinces from North to South such as Lai Chau, Son La, Gia Lai, and the Central Highlands.
Applying new technology to flag production
In the past, making a flag entirely by hand was very time-consuming, sometimes taking half a day to complete one, because cutting out the star shape was quite difficult; if it was an embroidered flag, it could take several days. Nowadays, thanks to the support of machines, the process is faster, but making a flag still cannot be done carelessly. To have a beautiful flag, it must go through many stages, each step requires carefulness and meticulousness to ensure the flag is flat with neat stitches.
“The flag making process includes the following steps: first, creating a drawing for the CNC machine to cut the fabric into parts of the flag; then, sewing and embroidering the details; and finally, packaging the finished product. The most difficult step is sewing the border and embroidering the star, which requires carefulness and meticulousness to ensure that the folds of the yellow star border are straight. In addition, there is a more advanced type of flag, the hand-embroidered flag. This type of flag is more expensive because it is embroidered entirely by hand,” said Mr. Hong Son.
To have a beautiful flag, it must go through many stages.
On average, an embroidered national flag or military flag takes about 2-3 days to complete, while those who are not skilled can take up to a week. Each stitch must be highly precise, so the price of a hand-embroidered flag ranges from 600,000 to 1 million VND, depending on the size and is many times higher than a machine-sewn flag. However, this product is popular with many people because of its durability and sharp beauty.
The hand-embroidered national flag is full of patriotism and national pride.
The flag flies high, proud of Vietnam
In the past, Tu Van village had dozens of households making flags, but now there are only about 10 skilled households with more than 100 workers. The motivation for them to maintain this traditional profession is the pride of contributing to creating a part of the soul of the nation.
Most of the flags in important national events are made by families and artisans of Tu Van village.
In terms of income, the villagers said that they have a stable standard of living but are not too rich. However, what is important to them is that the flag-making profession brings luck and honor that not everyone can have.
Today, every day, the national flag sewn by the people of Tu Van village still flies all over the country, from Lung Cu flagpole to Truong Sa island, from the city streets to the countryside, always stirring up in the hearts of each person the two proud words Vietnam. This is also the pride of the people of Tu Van village.
The national flag sewn by Tu Van villagers still flies all over the country.
