Flag of Democratic Kampuchea
Encyclopedia
The Flag of Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....

was adopted during Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...

 rule under Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

.

This flag is similar to the flag of Vietnam
Flag of Vietnam
The flag of Vietnam, also known as the "red flag with yellow star" , was designed in 1940 and used during an uprising against French rule in Cochinchina that year. The flag was used by the Việt Minh, a communist-led organization created in 1941 to oppose Japanese occupation...

. It was among the communist state
Communist state
A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state...

 national flag
National flag
A national flag is a flag that symbolizes a country. The flag is flown by the government, but usually can also be flown by citizens of the country.Both public and private buildings such as schools and courthouses may fly the national flag...

s without any symbolic red star
Red star
A red star, five-pointed and filled, is an important ideological and religious symbol which has been used for various purposes, such as: state emblems, flags, monuments, ornaments, and logos.- Symbol of communism :...

 or hammer and sickle
Hammer and sickle
The hammer and sickle is a part of communist symbolism and its usage indicates an association with Communism, a Communist party, or a Communist state. It features a hammer and a sickle overlapping each other. The two tools are symbols of the industrial proletariat and the peasantry; placing them...

.

History

The Flag of Democratic Kampuchea replaced the flag of the Khmer Republic
Flag of the Khmer Republic
The flag of the Khmer Republic is one of the historical flags of the Kingdom of Cambodia. It consists of a blue field with a red rectangle in the canton. The red rectangle bears the Angkor Wat silhouette...

, becoming the official flag of Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge came to power in the country in April 1975.
It was abolished many times from provinces of Cambodia bordering Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, but the country's new government counted the day of liberation of the capital city, 7 January 1979, as the official day in which it was abolished.

Although the flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea
Flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea
The flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea was a historical flag of Cambodia during its liberation of Khmer Rouge rule from 1979 to 1993.The flag that became the official flag of the PRK had been previously adopted by the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation , who had revived the flag...

 became the official flag within Cambodia after the ousting of the Khmer Rouge government, the Flag of Democratic Kampuchea would still be used by the Khmer Rouge government in exile and in the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

. Most states kept diplomatic ties with Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....

's government as the People's Republic of Kampuchea
People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...

 failed to gain widespread international recognition.

Symbolism

Red represents revolution and blood and the Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu,...

 stands for state of the people, workers and peasants.

See also

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