Bloody Hand and Skull (Vietnamese poster distributed in Vietnam; NARA title: Viet Poster #1)
A Vietnamese poster showing a large blood-smeared open hand coming through a torn red flag with a yellow star, above a skull and crossbones. The headline says the hand bloody with compatriots' blood still loudly proclaims love of people and country. The tell is name-calling by symbol: the Viet Minh flag is paired with blood and a death's head, and the text charges a gap between claims and conduct without naming any specific act.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1950
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Phòng Thông-Tin Trung-Ương, Quân-Đội Cao-Đài (Cao Dai Army Central Information Office), per printed imprint; held in the U.S. Information Agency Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia series
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Truman Administration
- Leader
- Harry S. Truman
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- First Indochina War
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, c. 1950-55. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 5730134, 306-PPA-233).
Text on the object
BÀN TAY ĐẪM MÁU ĐỒNG BÀO MÀ CŨNG LỚN TIẾNG HÔ HÀO THƯỞNG DÂN MÊN NƯỚC. PHÒNG THÔNG-TIN TRUNG-ƯƠNG QUÂN-ĐỘI CAO-ĐÀI [typed archival label: Viet Poster No. 1]
THE HAND BLOODY WITH COMPATRIOTS' BLOOD ALSO LOUDLY PROCLAIMS [LOVE OF] THE PEOPLE AND LOVE OF THE COUNTRY. CENTRAL INFORMATION OFFICE CAO DAI ARMY
Machine translation, not verified by a fluent reader. 'THƯỞNG DÂN MÊN NƯỚC' is transcribed as printed; it may be a variant of 'thương dân mến nước' (love the people, cherish the country).
