---
title: Come South poster, map split at 17th parallel (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/come-south-poster-map-split-at-17th-parallel-vietnamese-saigon-1954/
description: A two-colour map of Vietnam divided at the 17th parallel. In the grey northern half, houses burn under a star flag while figures run south.
section: Collection
---

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3. Come South poster, map split at 17th parallel

[![Come South poster, map split at 17th parallel, 1954 US poster: A two-colour map of Vietnam divided at the 17th parallel](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/come-south-poster-map-split-at-17th-parallel-vietnamese-saigon-1954.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/come-south-poster-map-split-at-17th-parallel-vietnamese-saigon-1954.jpg)

# Come South poster, map split at 17th parallel (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)

A two-colour map of Vietnam divided at the 17th parallel. In the grey northern half, houses burn under a star flag while figures run south; in the green southern half, farmers work rice fields with a buffalo and a man stands with open arms beside a striped flag. The headline urges going south to avoid Communism. The tell is a fear appeal with card-stacking: only disorder is shown in the north and only calm in the south.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)

## Text on the object

Original (Vietnamese) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
HÃY VÀO NAM ĐỂ TRÁNH
CỘNG-SẢN

VĨ-TUYẾN 17

ĐỒNG-BÀO NAM-VIỆT
DANG TAY CHỜ ĐÓN ĐỒNG-BÀO BẮC-VIỆT
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Go south to avoid Communism. 17th Parallel. South Vietnamese compatriots open their arms to await North Vietnamese compatriots.
```

No imprint or credit line is printed on the sheet.

[← News Review, 'News in Pictures' spread, August 5, 1954 (English-language page distributed in Beirut)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/news-review-news-in-pictures-august-5-1954/) [Heroes Day Posters: Lincoln, 'All men are created equal' (English poster distributed in Asia) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/heroes-day-lincoln-all-men-are-created-equal-english-1954/)

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- [Tyrants Prostrate, Liberty Triumphant (pro-Polk cartoon on Dorr), 1844](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/tyrants-prostrate-liberty-triumphant-polk-1844/) (United States · 1844 · Name-calling, Fear appeal). Content note: Speech balloons contain anti-Catholic and nativist wording ('the ruins of Popery') in the mouths of the Whig figures, written by a Democratic cartoonist and shown unaltered.
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