--- title: 'Vietnam War propaganda, 1954–1975: both sides' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/vietnam-war-propaganda/ description: Vietnam War propaganda from the United States, Saigon, Hanoi, the National Liberation Front and the U.S. protest movement, 1954 to 1975, with sources. section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg) Collection # Vietnam War propaganda, 1954–1975: both sides Vietnam War propaganda from the United States, Saigon, Hanoi, the National Liberation Front and the U.S. protest movement, 1954 to 1975, with sources. 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Vietnam War propaganda > **Content note.** Linked objects include wartime threats, casualty lists, and a broadcast addressed to Black U.S. soldiers by race. They are shown as recorded. Vietnam War propaganda, in this archive, is the printed, filmed and broadcast material governments, a southern front, and a U.S. protest movement put out about the war between 1954 and 1975. The same technique names are used for every issuer. Scale is not the same: U.S. and Saigon leaflet counts run to the billions, and Hanoi's English service was a radio programme. Vietnam War propaganda posters here are not one stack. U.S. and Saigon sheets, Front leaflets, and signs in protest photographs have different issuers. Vietnam propaganda posters, counted the same way, include Hanoi and the Front as well as Washington and Saigon. ## Who made propaganda in the Vietnam War? The issuer is not the country a photograph was taken in. - **United States government.** The Department of Defense film *Why Vietnam?*, the Gulf of Tonkin address and the resolution that followed it, and the Selective Service lottery of 1 December 1969. - **Republic of Vietnam (Saigon) and JUSPAO.** The Chieu Hoi ("Open Arms") leaflets and safe-conduct passes were a South Vietnamese programme run with the U.S. mission. JUSPAO is the joint office, not the Saigon government by itself. - **Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Hanoi).** Radio Hanoi's English service. The two hosted transcripts name the station. - **National Liberation Front.** Leaflets and flags issued by the Front. "Viet Cong" is the U.S. and Saigon name for that front. It is used here as that name, and in the search term for the Front's page, not as the Front's own title. - **U.S. antiwar movement.** March, moratorium and poster photographs. This is not the U.S. government. - **Private U.S. groups.** A clergy march ("Support Our Boys") and Young Americans for Freedom are private groups. An Army officer-candidate poster is government recruiting. They are not one issuer. - **Other states.** Australian and East German items already in the collection sit with the state that issued them. Objects made or found in South Vietnam, including material from more than one issuer, are listed under [South Vietnam](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/country/south-vietnam/). That list is not "South Vietnamese propaganda." ## What was the Chieu Hoi program? From 1963 the Saigon government, with the U.S. mission, asked National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese soldiers to change sides. The leaflets, the passes, the rallier counts and the argument about what those counts mean are on [Chieu Hoi and Radio Hanoi](https://propagandaarchive.org/case-studies/vietnam-chieu-hoi-and-radio-hanoi/). "Chieu Hoi" is the programme's own name. English accounts render it "Open Arms." ## Who was Hanoi Hannah? Hanoi Hannah was the name U.S. troops gave Trịnh Thị Ngọ, an announcer on Radio Hanoi's English service. The hosted transcripts credit the station, not her. The record of the name, the station and the two transcripts is on [Hanoi Hannah (Trịnh Thị Ngọ)](https://propagandaarchive.org/case-studies/hanoi-hannah-trinh-thi-ngo/). ## What was Operation Wandering Soul? U.S. Army and Navy units played loudspeaker tapes of a voice presented as a dead soldier. A 6th PSYOP Battalion sheet dated 24 June 1968 has that voice say he is dead and tell listeners to rally. Later writers call one tape Ghost Tape Number Ten. No recording is hosted. The account is on [Operation Wandering Soul](https://propagandaarchive.org/case-studies/operation-wandering-soul/). ## What did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution say? On 10 August 1964 Congress passed Public Law 88-408. The resolved clause, as printed at 78 Stat. 384, reads: "the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." The statute page is [Public Law 88-408](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gulf-of-tonkin-resolution-1964/). The address that preceded it is a different object. On 4 August 1964 President Johnson said a second attack on U.S. destroyers had taken place. National Security Agency historian Robert J. Hanyok later concluded that this second attack did not take place. That finding, and the photograph of the address, are on [the address page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gulf-of-tonkin-address-1964/). The incident itself is not a separate page here. ## What did North Vietnam and the NLF put out? Hanoi radio transcripts, a 1954 DRV stamp, and Front leaflets and flags are together on [DRV and NLF propaganda](https://propagandaarchive.org/vietnam-war-propaganda/drv-and-nlf/). The page selects by issuer. Front material is not filed as the Saigon government. ## What did antiwar posters say? Photographs of U.S. marches and protests from 1965 to 1972, including posters in those scenes, are on [US antiwar posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/vietnam-war-propaganda/us-antiwar-posters/). Anti Vietnam War propaganda, on this site, means that protest material. It is not U.S. government output. The posters known as *And babies* and *I want out* are not shown. Rights in them are claimed, so this archive names them and does not host them. ## How did the 1969 draft lottery work? On 1 December 1969 the Selective Service System drew birth dates from 365 capsules to set the order in which men would be called. The photograph and the Selective Service citations are on [the lottery page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/selective-service-draft-lottery-1969/). A 1970 photograph the Library of Congress titles as a draft-card burning is a protest, not that drawing: [draft card burning](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/draft-card-burning-selective-service-1970/). ## What did the U.S. government and private groups put out at home? The Department of Defense film [*Why Vietnam?*](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dod-why-vietnam-film-1965/) and the [USIS pamphlet of the same title (1965)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/usis-why-vietnam-pamphlet-1965/) are two objects. An [Army officer-candidate poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/army-ocs-leadership-recruiting-poster-1968/) is government recruiting. The [1967 clergy march](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/clergy-support-our-boys-white-house-1967/) and the [1969 Young Americans for Freedom sign](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/yaf-tell-it-to-hanoi-1969/) are private groups, not the U.S. government. Those home-front items, including the Vietnam War posters in that recruiting sheet and in those two photographs, stay on this page. They do not have a page of their own. ## Objects tagged to the Vietnam War Showing 60 of 590 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/). - [Viet Nam and the Fight Against Communism (pamphlet for the Manila anti-Communist league conference), contents page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/viet-nam-fight-against-communism-contents-1956/) (South Vietnam · Mar 1956 · Bandwagon) - [The Murder of Colonel Hoang Thuy Nam by the Vietminh Communists (Government of the Republic of Vietnam pamphlet), page 5](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/murder-of-colonel-hoang-thuy-nam-pamphlet-1962/) (South Vietnam · May 1962 · Name-calling) - [Bức tâm thư (A Heartfelt Letter) to Viet Cong cadres, fighters and militia, in the name of the rallier Văn Công Chúc](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/buc-tam-thu-defector-letter-1963/) (South Vietnam · 1963 · Testimonial, Name-calling) - [Zentralbild "Terror in Südvietnam": woman and children before a burning house](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gdr-zentralbild-terror-in-suedvietnam-mother-children-1963/) (East Germany · Jul 20, 1963 · Name-calling). Content note: Press photograph of a woman carrying a naked infant and leading a child away from a burning house, with an armed soldier behind them. - [The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, Volume 5 (August 1963), page 7: photographs of Chou En-lai with Ho Chi Minh and of Yeh Chien-ying with Vo Nguyen Giap](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/armed-forces-magazine-vol5-communist-embraces-1963/) (South Vietnam · Aug 1963 · Transfer) - [Activities in Tan Uyen](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/activities-in-tan-uyen-1964/) (United States · 1964 · Card stacking, Plain folks) - [Đây! Lối giải phóng của bọn Cộng Phỉ (This! The Liberation Way of the Communist Bandits)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/day-loi-giai-phong-cong-phi-1964/) (United States · 1964 · Name-calling, Bandwagon) - [Nêu cao ý chí bất khuất (Uphold the Unyielding Will), Sacred Sword of the Patriots League leaflet with Le Loi](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sspl-le-loi-leaflet-1960s/) (United States · 1964 · Transfer, Narrative laundering) - [Tại sao Mao Chủ tịch lại cười (Why Is Chairman Mao Laughing), Sacred Sword of the Patriots League leaflet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sspl-mao-laughing-leaflet-1960s/) (United States · 1964 · Scapegoating, Narrative laundering). Content note: Cartoon showing a corpse and a woman and child amid bombing explosions. - [Communist Aggression Against the Republic of Viet-Nam (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saigon, July 1964), introduction 'Asia's Final Battle', page 9](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/communist-aggression-asias-final-battle-introduction-1964/) (South Vietnam · Jul 1964 · Fear appeal) - [Vietnam Fights and Builds, No. 1 (July 1964), cover](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/vietnam-fights-and-builds-no1-cover-1964/) (South Vietnam · Jul 1964 · Transfer) - [Việt Cộng sát hại dân lành, Vietnam Photo News poster (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/viet-cong-kill-civilians-vietnam-photo-news-poster-saigon-1964/) (United States · Jul 7, 1964 · Name-calling, Card stacking) - [Compatriots, Ask Yourselves poster 407 (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/compatriots-ask-yourselves-poster-407-vietnamese-saigon-1964/) (United States · Jul 9, 1964 · Name-calling, Scapegoating) - [Chieu Hoi slogan poster 406b, green and blue (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/chieu-hoi-slogan-poster-406b-green-and-blue-vietnamese-saigon-1964/) (United States · Jul 14, 1964 · Name-calling, Plain folks) - [Chieu Hoi verse poster 406a, red lettering (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/chieu-hoi-verse-poster-406a-red-lettering-vietnamese-saigon-1964/) (United States · Jul 14, 1964 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities) - [School Publicity poster, No. 389 (Vietnamese-Montagnard, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/school-publicity-poster-vietnamese-montagnard-1964/) (United States · Jul 23, 1964 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities) - [Vietnam Is Not Alone poster, No. 384 (Vietnamese, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/vietnam-not-alone-new-zealand-bridge-vietnamese-1964/) (United States · Jul 27, 1964 · Bandwagon, Testimonial) - [Tiếng Gọi Chiêu Hồi poster, PPB-365: Choose Freedom (Vietnamese, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/choose-freedom-chieu-hoi-ppb-365-vietnamese-saigon-1964/) (United States · Jul 29, 1964 · Glittering generalities, Name-calling) - [President Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin 'Midnight Address'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gulf-of-tonkin-address-1964/) (United States · Aug 4, 1964 · Card stacking) - [Public Law 88-408, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (10 August 1964)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gulf-of-tonkin-resolution-1964/) (United States · Aug 10, 1964 · Card stacking) - [Return to the National Cause poster, No. 388 (Vietnamese, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/family-returning-from-viet-cong-territory-vietnamese-1964/) (United States · Aug 14, 1964 · Testimonial, Card stacking) - [Low Price Sale of Radios poster, No. 385 (Vietnamese, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/low-price-sale-of-radios-vietnamese-1964/) (United States · Aug 25, 1964 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities) - [Hau Nghia Provincial Authority Activities poster, No. 387 (Vietnamese, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/activities-of-provincial-authority-hau-nghia-vietnamese-1964/) (United States · Sep 9, 1964 · Card stacking, Name-calling) - [Nghia Hanh Victory poster, No. 391 (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nghia-hanh-victory-poster-391-vietnamese-1964/) (United States · Oct 9, 1964 · Card stacking, Transfer) - [Military Service Is a Citizen's Duty poster, PPB-369 (Vietnamese, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/military-service-citizens-duty-ppb-369-vietnamese-saigon-1964/) (United States · Oct 19, 1964 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Recruiting poster Nos. 1 and 2, 164QD2 (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/recruiting-poster-nos-1-2-164qd2-vietnamese-saigon-1964/) (United States · Oct 19, 1964 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Recruiting poster Nos. 3 and 4, J64QD1 (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/recruiting-poster-nos-3-4-j64qd1-vietnamese-saigon-1964/) (United States · Oct 19, 1964 · Glittering generalities, Plain folks) - [Your Advice Can Spell Victory or Defeat poster (English, Elements of Victory series, Saigon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/your-advice-can-spell-victory-or-defeat-poster-393-1964/) (United States · Nov 9, 1964 · Fear appeal, Glittering generalities) - [26 Countries Around the World Aid South Vietnam](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/26-countries-aid-vietnam-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Bandwagon, Fear appeal). Content note: An illustration of a burning village and a bleeding child's arm gripped alongside a rifle held by a hammer-and-sickle sleeve, as issued. - [A Gesture of True Friendship](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-gesture-of-true-friendship-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks, Card stacking, Transfer) - [A Home and Land for Tran Van Vi](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-home-and-land-for-tran-van-vi-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Testimonial, Plain folks, Card stacking) - [Gương mặt mới hướng về tương lai (A New Face for the Future)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-new-face-for-the-future-cleft-lip-surgery-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [A Strong Fortress (Một thành trì kiên cố)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-strong-fortress-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities) - [The Activities of Hoi Chanh in Phuoc Long Province](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/activities-hoi-chanh-phuoc-long-province-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Glittering generalities, Card stacking) - [Hanoi's Own Affirmations (Nhung loi xac nhan cua Ha Noi)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/affirmations-of-hanoi-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking) - [Agression du Nord (Aggression of the North)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/agression-du-nord-aggression-of-the-north-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Fear appeal, Scapegoating) - [Cứu giúp một kẻ thù bại trận; Giúp đỡ một người bạn trẻ (Aid for a Fallen Foe; Aid for a Young Friend)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aid-for-a-fallen-foe-aid-for-a-young-friend-poster-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Transfer, Testimonial). Content note: Photographs of a wounded Vietnamese fighter being carried to a helicopter and of a boy with one leg on crutches, as issued. - [Aids to Highlander's Hamlets, Binh Long Province (Công cuộc viện trợ vào tận các ấp Thượng tỉnh Bình-Long)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aids-to-highlanders-hamlets-binh-long-province-sp-1861-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Transfer, Card stacking). Content note: Photographs show a U.S. Army medical team treating highlander villagers, including partly unclothed children with skin sores, as issued. - [Những người Mỹ tới đây là bạn. Chúng ta hãy hợp tác với họ (Americans Come as Friends. Let's Cooperate With Them)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/americans-come-as-friends-cooperate-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks, Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Những người bạn Mỹ đến Long An (Americans Come to Long An)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/americans-come-to-long-an-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks, Transfer) - [The American Friends Help the Work of Building Society](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/americans-help-social-construction-1965-to-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [An-Giang Believes in the Future](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/an-giang-believes-in-the-future-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Glittering generalities, Card stacking) - [An Giang Self-Help Projects](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/an-giang-self-help-projects-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Plain folks, Glittering generalities) - [Another Vietcong Crime in Dinh-Tuong](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/another-viet-cong-crime-in-dinh-tuong-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Fear appeal, Card stacking, Name-calling). Content note: Photographs, as issued, show dead bodies, one badly burned, and a destroyed bridge. - [Ấp Bá Canh (Ba Canh Hamlet)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ap-ba-canh-ba-canh-hamlet-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks, Card stacking) - [Ba Canh Hamlet: The People of Ba Canh Starting to Work at Building a Bridge for the Hamlet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ba-canh-hamlet-building-a-bridge-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Plain folks) - [Ba Canh Hamlet: Ripe Rice and Mr. Phan Nho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ba-canh-hamlet-harvest-and-phan-nho-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks, Card stacking) - [Ba Canh Hamlet: Women Carry Stones to Build Ditches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ba-canh-hamlet-women-carry-stones-to-build-ditches-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Plain folks) - [Bạn còn đợi gì mà không trở về với gia-đình? (What Are You Still Waiting For? Return to Your Family)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ban-con-doi-gi-tro-ve-voi-gia-dinh-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Fear appeal) - [Bằng chứng cụ thể tại Vũng-Rô (Concrete Proof at Vung Ro), USIA photo-sheet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bang-chung-cu-the-tai-vung-ro-usia-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking) - [Bến-Cát bừng sáng (Ben-Cat At Dawn)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ben-cat-at-dawn-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Euphemism / doublespeak) - [A Better Way of Life in Binh Tuy: Refugees and Poor People Are Not Forgotten by the G.V.N.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/better-way-of-life-binh-tuy-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Plain folks) - [Binh Dinh in the Course of Reconstruction and Development](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/binh-dinh-reconstruction-and-development-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Transfer) - [Binh Long Government Help in Social Construction Program](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/binh-long-government-help-in-social-construction-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Glittering generalities, Transfer) - [Bình Long trên đường xây dựng nông thôn (Binh Long in the Rural Construction Effort)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/binh-long-rural-construction-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Transfer) - [Bình-Thuận (Binh Thuan)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/binh-thuan-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Fear appeal) - [Dân chúng Bình-Thuận đã bầu Hội đồng tỉnh (The People of Binh Thuan Have Elected a Provincial Council)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/binh-thuan-provincial-council-inaugural-ceremony-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Plain folks) - [Cả hai đồng một nụ cười tin tưởng! (Both Have the Same Confident Smile)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/both-have-the-same-confident-smile-juspao-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Transfer, Plain folks) - [Building a Bridge in Dong Binh](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/building-a-bridge-in-dong-binh-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks, Identity fusion) - [Dong Binh Bridge: Connecting](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/building-a-bridge-in-dong-binh-connecting-the-two-parts-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Card stacking, Plain folks)