The flag of the

People's Republic of Kampuchea The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; vi, Cộng hòa Nhân dân Campuchia was a partially recognised state in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as So ...

was a historical flag of

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

from 1979 to 1989, used during the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War ( km, សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-វៀតណាម, vi, Chiến tranh Campuchia–Việt Nam), known in Vietnam as the Counter-offensive on the Southwestern border ( vi, Chiến dịch Phản ...

. The flag that became the official flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea had been previously adopted by the

Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation The Kampuchea Khmer United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS; km, រណសិរ្សសាមគ្គីសង្គ្រោះជាតិកម្ពុជា), often simply referred to as Salvation Front or by its French acronym FUN ...

(KUFNS), who had revived the flag of the

Khmer Issarak The Khmer Issarak ( km, ខ្មែរឥស្សរៈ, or 'Independent Khmer') was a "loosely structured" anti- French and anti-colonial independence movement. The movement has been labelled as “amorphous”. The Issarak was ...

in the days of anti-French resistance, declaring it the flag of the PRK.

State of Cambodia

In 1989,

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and ...

renamed the country as the State of Cambodia and changed the flag: instead of just fully red, it was half red above and half blue below, reviving the blue color of preceding Cambodian flags. It had a yellow five-towered Angkor Wat silhouette in the center like the first. In some versions the Angkor Wat of the State of Cambodia flag displayed the architectural details of the Angkorian structure outlined in black. Although the flags of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, and later the flag of the State of Cambodia, became the official flags within Cambodia after the ousting of the Khmer Rouge government of Democratic Kampuchea, the

flag of Democratic Kampuchea The flag of Democratic Kampuchea consisted of the golden Angkor Wat in the red background. It was adopted on 5 January 1976 during Khmer Rouge rule under Cambodia. This flag is similar to the flag of Vietnam. It was however, unusual among th ...

would still be used by the

Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK; km, រដ្ឋាភិបាលចំរុះកម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ, ''Roathaphibal Chamroh Kampuchea Pracheathipatai''), renamed in 1990 to the N ...

and in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. As the PRK failed to gain widespread international recognition most states kept diplomatic ties with the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea.Michael Vickery, ''Cambodia 1975-1982'', Silkworm Books 2000,

Symbolism

Red symbolizes blood and

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. The five-towered Angkor Wat silhouette refers to the unity of soldiers, traders,

workers The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

and

intellectuals An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or as ...

of Kampuchea.

References

External links

People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979-1989)

Kampuchea People's Republic of Kampuchea {{Cambodia-hist-stub