Holiday Name: | Reunification Day |
Type: | National |
Official Name: | Day of liberating the South for national reunification (Vietnamese: Giải phóng miền Nam, thống nhất đất nước) |
Nickname: | Reunification Day (Vietnamese: Ngày Thống nhất) Liberation Day (Vietnamese: Ngày Giải phóng) Victory Day (Vietnamese: Ngày Chiến thắng)[1] Black April (Vietnamese: Tháng tư đen) Fall of Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn thất thủ) |
Observedby: | Vietnamese |
Longtype: | National |
Significance: | Marks the Fall of Saigon |
Duration: | 1 day |
Frequency: | Annual |
Date: | 30 April |
Scheduling: | same day each year |
Relatedto: | Fall of Saigon |
Reunification Day (Vietnamese: Ngày Thống nhất), also known as Victory Day (Vietnamese: Ngày Chiến thắng), Liberation Day (Vietnamese: Ngày Giải phóng or Vietnamese: Ngày Giải phóng miền Nam), or by its official name, Day of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (Vietnamese: Ngày Giải phóng miền Nam, thống nhất đất nước)[2] is a public holiday in Vietnam that marks the event when the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces captured Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), the capital of South Vietnam, on 30 April 1975, thus ending the Vietnam War. The event marked the start of the transition period of reunification, which also occurred after a vote in the National Assembly[3] for reunification on 2 July 1976, when South Vietnam and North Vietnam were merged, forming the modern-day Vietnam.[4]
In some of the overseas Vietnamese communities of people who fled from South Vietnam after its fall, the day is commemorated as the Fall of Saigon, Black April (Vietnamese: Tháng tư đen),[5] [6] National Day of Shame (Vietnamese: Ngày quốc nhục) or National Day of Hate (Vietnamese: Ngày quốc hận).[7] This is a commemorative day for exiled Vietnamese who served, were affected, and displaced in those overseas communities, and as such is a day of reflection.