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70 years ago (July 21, 1954 – July 21, 2024), the Geneva Agreement was signed in Switzerland to cease hostilities, restore peace in Indochina and abolish French rule.
After this Agreement, a demilitarized zone on the 17th parallel, from the Ben Hai River mouth running along the length of the river to the Vietnam – Laos border became a temporary military demarcation line dividing Vietnam into two regions, the South and the North.
At that time, Hien Luong bridge across Ben Hai river (in Hien Luong village, Vinh Thanh commune, Vinh Linh district, Quang Tri province today) was also divided into 2 parts belonging to 2 regions to wait until July 1956 to hold a general election to unify the country.
But with the events caused by the sabotage of hostile forces, it took our country 21 years (until 1975) to gain independence and unify the country.
In the picture is Hien Luong bridge in 1961 and today.
Hien Luong Bridge was built by the French in May 1952, with 7 spans, 178m long, reinforced concrete pillars, steel girders, pine wood flooring, 4m wide; both sides have 1.2m high barriers, maximum bridge load of 18 tons.
During the period of division, there were silent wars on both banks of Hien Luong between the Republic of Vietnam (South) and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North), including a “color war”.
Initially, the South painted its half of the bridge blue, and soon after, the North painted the other half of the bridge blue. After that, whatever color the South painted, the North painted the same color. This was a political struggle to express the desire of our army and people to unify the country.
Pictured is the repainting of the bridge on the north side in 1960.
The “color war” lasted until 1960, when the two colors of blue and yellow were kept, the boundary between the two parts of the bridge was a 1cm wide white horizontal line.
In 1967, Hien Luong Bridge was destroyed by American bombs. In 2001, the bridge was restored. For many years, the bridgehead was painted only one color.
In 2014, Quang Tri province restored the two colors of paint for Hien Luong bridge as it was in the period when the country was not yet unified, to remind and engrave the aspiration for unification and national integrity.
The “flag fight” was perhaps the most intense and fierce “battle” that took place on both banks of Ben Hai for 14 years. Since the border was demarcated, the height and width of the flagpole have been continuously raised by both sides.
