As emojis become a widespread form of global messaging, San Jose leaders are calling on the world’s leading text encoders to add a symbol for the Flag of South Vietnam.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to urge the Unicode Consortium — the Mountain View-based organization overseeing the digitized use of text in all of the world’s writing systems — to adopt the flag of a fallen government with historical and political significance to refugees from the Vietnam War who live in San Jose.
Standard smartphones only provide the use of Vietnam’s official flag representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which draped the nation in 1976 under communist party rule. Yet the hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled to the U.S. have rejected the banner over the following decades — instead clinging defiantly to the yellow flag with three stripes representing South Vietnam.
District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan led the push for the council’s formal request, just weeks after the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
“For many Vietnamese refugees and their families, this flag is a powerful symbol of freedom, democracy and remembrance. As emojis become an essential part of our digital communications, it’s time the diversity of our community is reflected there too,” he said at the meeting.
Representatives for the Unicode Consortium — whose members include companies such as Adobe, Apple, IBM, Google and Microsoft — didn’t respond to a request for comment.
San Jose’s Little Saigon and other hubs around the U.S. have grown more dynamic and complex since the end of the war, as younger generations spring up with varying political views and no direct experience with the catastrophic and violent conflict. Yet scores of older Vietnamese Americans showed up to the council meeting as a reminder of its enduring memory.
“I’m very proud of my former country,” Viet Museum Director Hong Cao said during public comment.
Cao said what was once the symbol of a nation has now become a flag of “heritage.”
“For overseas Vietnamese, the emoji will provide a symbol of our identity and connection to the homeland,” Cao said.
The public turnout left an impression on Mayor Matt Mahan.
“We’re so honored to have you all here,” Mahan said at the meeting. “The least our big digital platforms can do is reflect that — in honor of that tradition and history of expression of freedom and sacrifice so many have made to come here and build a life and make our city and country stronger.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
